What are the Symptoms of HIV?
HIV disease can affect you in many different ways. The range of illnesses associated with HIV may be mild, like a rash or dry skin, or very severe such as the pneumonia, PCP, or the brain infection called toxoplasmosis. Everybody’s immune system is different, so there’s no way of predicting how HIV will affect any one person. Many people with HIV stay well for many years while others become ill very quickly. By having regular T-cell checks, you can see how your immune system is coping with HIV and whether you are in danger of illness. One thing does remain the same for everyone-the healthier your immune system, the less likely it is that you will develop a serious illness associated with HIV. – this information was taken from an Australian publication ‘What now?’ booklet produced by the National Treatments Project of AFAO ( Australian Federation of AIDS organisations) The AVERT Web site also notes: The only way to know for sure whether you are infected with HIV is to have an HIV antibo
Primary HIV infection is the first stage of HIV disease, when the virus first establishes itself in the body. Some researchers use the term acute HIV infection to describe the period of time between when a person is first infected with HIV and when antibodies against the virus are produced by the body (usually 6- 12 weeks). Some people newly infected with HIV will experience some “flu-like” symptoms. These symptoms, which usually last no more than a few days, might include fevers, chills, night sweats and rashes (not cold-like symptoms). Other people either do not experience “acute infection,” or have symptoms so mild that they may not notice them. Given the general character of the symptoms of acute infection, they can easily have causes other than HIV, such as a flu infection. For example, if you had some risk for HIV a few days ago and are now experiencing flu-like symptoms, it might be possible that HIV is responsible for the symptoms, but it is also possible that you have some oth
Most people infected with HIV do not know that they have become infected, because no symptoms develop immediately after the initial infection. Some people have a glandular fever-like illness (with fever, rash, joint pains and enlarged lymph nodes), which can occur at the time of seroconversion. Seroconversion refers to the development of antibodies to HIV and usually takes place between 6 weeks and 3 months after an infection has occurred (see Question 32). Despite the fact that HIV infection does not cause any initial symptoms, an HIV-infected person is highly infectious and can transmit the virus to another person (see Question 7). The only way to determine whether HIV is present in a person’s body is by taking an HIV test (see Question 31). HIV infection causes a gradual depletion and weakening of the immune system. This results in an increased susceptibility of the body to infections and can lead to the development of AIDS (see Question 2 and Question 4).
