• Question: If you lose alot of cells through virus what are the consequences

    Asked by Sevi12 to Carolyn on 17 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Carolyn Nielsen

      Carolyn Nielsen answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      It would depend what kind of cells they are, as different viruses infect different cells. Then you can also have by-stander effects, where nearby cells could be killed or damaged due to the viral infection even if they aren’t infected themselves.

      A really good example though is HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS. HIV infects a type of immune cell called CD4 T cells. Over time, the number of CD4 T cells a HIV+ person has will decline. This is actually one of the main clues someone has an HIV infection and is progressing to AIDS. This is a huge problem because CD4 T cells are really important for helping you fight infections. That’s why people with AIDS are really vulnerable to other viruses or bacteria. It’s actually usually not HIV/AIDS that will kill people, but another infection that they weren’t able to fight off.

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