HIV AIDS Symptoms

HIV Stages and Symptoms

While the prognosis for those living with HIV/AIDS has never been better, the immune disease is still a devastating condition that affects an estimated 33 million people worldwide.

The symptoms of HIV/AIDS vary according the stage of the disease.

Acute HIV Infection Once the individual has become into contact with the HIV virus, the virus manifests in the body. This first stage of HIV infection generally lasts for one to two weeks. During this time, almost all newly-infected individuals will develop flu-like symptoms such as fever, body aches, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes. Since this cluster of symptoms closely mirrors the characteristics of the flu, often the individual mistakes their illness as a cold or the seasonal flu. This Acute HIV Infection stage is also marked by rapid replication of HIV in the bloodstream.

Seroconversion Once the virus has started to invade the body, the immune system begins to develop antibodies in order to fight off the foreign virus. This process known as seroconversion generally takes place between one and three months following infection. Since the antibodies may take a few months to produce, it is important to wait at least 3 months following suspected exposure to HIV to be tested for the virus.

Asymptomatic Stage Following the Acute HIV Infection and Seroconversion stages, a person with HIV may exhibit no symptoms whatsoever of their illness even though the virus is still very active in the body as it replicates and destroys the protective CD4 T cells of the immune system. The only symptoms an individual will experience in this stage are swollen lymph nodes and a positive HIV antibody test. Practicing safe sex behaviors and proper needle usage continues to be necessary in order to prevent infecting others. Early and Medium Stage of HIV Symptomatic Disease

Medical experts agree that it generally takes about five to seven years for the initial symptoms of HIV to manifest. These mild symptoms like skin rashes, weight loss, night sweats, infections in the nail and in the mouth are the hallmark features of the Early and Medium stage of HIV disease. As the virus begins to take its toll on the immune system, other infections may arise such as herpes, either genital or oral, fever, thrush, yeast infections and continued weight loss as the body has little CD4 T cells to fend off foreign invaders.

Late Stage HIV Disease or AIDS As the virus continues to damage the immune system, the infected individual will begin to develop opportunistic infections (OIs). Common OI’s are pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, candidiasis and Mycobacterium Avium Complex disease (MAC). A diagnosis of AIDS is marked by having one or more OI’s or a CD4 cell count below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood. This is the level at which the immune system is unable to protect itself from AIDS-related illnesses and infections.

An AIDS diagnosis does not necessarily mean that the person with HIV is near death. Rather, a more rigorous schedule of medications is prescribed in order to treat the OIs and/or further prevent the destruction of the CD4 cells. Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) involves taking three or more medications in order to aggressively treat the infections and preserve the remaining CD4 cells.