Scenario: A nurse working in the Emergency Room is attempting to start an IV on a very bloody trauma patient

Scenario: A nurse working in the Emergency Room is attempting to start an IV on a very bloody trauma patient. The patient starts to seize and the nurse looses her grip and sticks herself with the bloody IV needle (ADDRESS ALL POINTS BELOW)

• Describe the viral characteristics of HIV and discuss why the virus eventually results in the disease AIDS.
• If the patient is in the initial few weeks of their HIV infection, is it likely that the test will show their true HIV status? Would the test need to be repeated at a later date? If so, why?
• Why would we treat the nurse with an Antiretroviral drug? (check out the website for help with this question:  https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/hiv-prevention/using-hiv-medication-to-reduce-risk/post-exposure-prophylaxis )
• Why would we want to monitor CD4+ cell populations in a person that is suspected to have contracted HIV?