Early
Symptoms
Many
people do not develop any symptoms when they first become infected with HIV.
Some people, however, have a flu-like illness within a month or two after
exposure to the virus. They may have fever, headache, malaise and enlarged lymph
nodes (organs of the immune system easily felt in the neck and groin). These
symptoms usually disappear within a week to a month and are often mistaken for
those of another viral infection. People are very infectious during this period,
and HIV is present in large quantities in genital secretions.
More
persistent or severe symptoms may not surface for a decade or more after HIV
first enters the body in adults, or within two years in children born with HIV
infection. This period of "asymptomatic" infection is highly variable.
Some people may begin to have symptoms in as soon as a few months, whereas
others may be symptom-free for more than 10 years. During the asymptomatic
period, however, HIV is actively multiplying, infecting and killing cells of the
immune system. HIV's effect is seen most obviously in a decline in the blood
levels of CD4+ T cells (also called T4 cells) – the immune system's key
infection fighters. The virus initially disables or destroys these cells without
causing symptoms.
As
the immune system deteriorates, a variety of complications begins to surface.
One of the first such symptoms experienced by many people infected with HIV is
large lymph nodes or "swollen glands" that may be enlarged for more
than three months. Other symptoms often experienced months to years before the
onset of AIDS include a lack of energy, weight loss, frequent fevers and sweats,
persistent or frequent yeast infections (oral or vaginal), persistent skin
rashes or flaky skin, pelvic inflammatory disease that does not respond to
treatment, or short-term memory loss.
Some
people develop frequent and severe herpes infections that cause mouth, genital
or anal sores, or a painful nerve disease known as shingles. Children may have
delayed development or failure to thrive.
|
Sex
