Epidemiological Triangle
An epidemiological triangle is a technique that helps researchers better understand how infectious diseases spread among people. It clarifies the intricate connections between infectious disease pathogens, their hosts, and the settings they live in. The agent is the name for the microbe that is the cause of the illness. In the context of HIV/AIDS, a virus is the infectious agent that causes the illness. The most prevalent kind of the virus that may lead to HIV/AIDS is called HIV-1 (Gopalappa et al., 2017). HIV-2 is a rare virus with modest virulence with signs and symptoms similar to HIV-1. A variety of HIV-related variables have an impact on the virus’s capacity to infect a host. They include virulence, often referred to as pathogenicity, and dosage. A disease-causing microorganism’s pathogenicity refers to its ability to really cause illness. The HIV virus has a high degree of virulence since it may infect and spread throughout the host. A dosage is a measurement of a pathogen’s amount or concentration (a microbe that causes sickness) (Gopalappa et al., 2017). The majority of the time, HIV is present in high concentrations, which increases its ability to infect and spread throughout the host. HIV is spread from one person to another by direct contact between hosts and infectious fluids, such as blood, vaginal secretions, or sperm.
In the epidemiological triangle, the term “host” refers to the person who is carrying the disease. It is a reference to the people whose lives have been altered by HIV/AIDS. Their susceptibility to HIV infection and the subsequent progression of AIDS is influenced by a number of host factors. The state of one’s immune system is one of them. People with weakened immune systems have an increased likelihood of becoming infected with HIV. There is a high likelihood of viral invasion, further multiplication, and subsequent suppression. The individual behaviors of the hosts are another factor related to the hosts. The risk of the host being exposed to the agent is increased by behaviors such as having sexual contact without protection, having a large number of sexual partners, and injecting drugs while sharing needles, among other things (Mahdavi et al., 2021). Another host-related risk factor for HIV and AIDS is the possibility of becoming pregnant. Infected pregnant women have an increased risk of passing the virus on to their unborn children either through mother-to-child transmission, which can occur during delivery and breastfeeding, or through mother-to-baby transmission. People who already have a medical condition are at a greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS than those who do not have a medical condition. Comorbidities that are already present in patients lower their immune status, which in turn increases their susceptibility to the agent. Patients receiving standard treatments for cancer are at an increased risk of contracting HIV due to the suppression of their immune systems caused by these treatments (Joas et al., 2018). Patients who are receiving blood transfusions and those who have been involved in car accidents are also at risk because of their contact with contaminated fluids.
The word “environment” describes the different external factors that affect the epidemiologic epidemic. Environmental elements, in addition to the host and the infectious agent, contribute to the spread of the illness. The environmental variables that contribute to the transmission of HIV/AIDS include places with a high frequency of sexually transmitted infections and poor levels of reporting (Dumais, 2017). Situations like this promote the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Socioeconomic variables, such as poverty, also contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS since they make it harder to get the essential therapy. Another thing that deters people from enrolling in testing and treatment programs is when people with HIV/AIDS experience stigma or social isolation (Dumais, 2017). They are to blame for the increased pace of the disease’s population-wide spread as a direct consequence of this.
Role of the Community Health Nurse
Community health nurses have a number of roles in the epidemiological treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. One of the responsibilities involved is case discovery. The search for cases entails looking for those who have had HIV/AIDS as well as those who are at risk. The community health nurse conducts population screens in order to find the patients. She also outlines the susceptible groups, which might include those who are transgender, misuse alcohol or drugs, have several sex partners, or participate in unprotected sexual activity, such as those who work in the sex industry (Mottiar& Lodge, 2018). The nurse educates the vulnerable population on HIV/AIDS prevention strategies as well as the need of being screened
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