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The symptoms of HIV infection are the result of HIV attacking the cells of the body's immune system. Early in the disease, many people with HIV infection have no symptoms. Some people may experience flu-like symptoms that occur about four to eight weeks after infection. Symptoms may include swollen glands, fever, headache and fatigue.
These symptoms generally go away within several weeks. There then may be no symptoms for months to as many as ten years or longer after HIV infection. Over this time, HIV gradually destroys the helper T cells of the immune system. This eventually results in symptoms, such as swollen glands that remain enlarged, fatigue, weight loss, recurring fever and yeast infections.
Eventually the immune system becomes so weak that other opportunistic infections and other serious complications occur. This stage is generally when a diagnosis of AIDS is made. Opportunistic infections and other complications include Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, cytomegalovirus infections, Kaposi's sarcoma, tuberculosis, shingles, bacterial infections, herpes, meningitis, encephalitis and hepatitis....more about HIV/AIDS »
The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for HIV/AIDS includes the 87 symptoms listed below:
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Many children with
HIV infection do not gain weight or grow normally. HIV-infected children
frequently are slow to reach important milestones in motor skills and
mental development such as crawling, walking and speaking. As the disease
progresses, many children develop neurologic problems such as difficulty
walking, poor school performance, seizures, and other symptoms of HIV
encephalopathy.
Like adults with HIV infection, children with HIV
develop life-threatening opportunistic infections (OIs), although the
incidence of various OIs differs in adults and children. For example,
toxoplasmosis is seen less frequently in HIV-infected children than in
HIV-infected adults, while serious bacterial infections occur more
commonly in children than in adults. Also, as children with HIV become
sicker, they may suffer from chronic diarrhea due to opportunistic
pathogens.
Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) is the leading
cause of death in HIV-infected children with AIDS. PCP, as well as
cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease, usually are primary infections in children,
whereas in adults these diseases result from the reactivation of latent
infections.
A lung disease called lymphocytic interstitial
pneumonitis (LIP), rarely seen in adults, also occurs frequently in
HIV-infected children. This condition, like PCP, can make breathing
progressively more difficult and often results in hospitalization.
Children with HIV suffer the usual childhood bacterial infections
-- only more frequently and more severely than uninfected children. These
bacterial infections can cause seizures, fever, pneumonia, recurrent
colds, diarrhea, dehydration and other problems that often result in
extended hospital stays and nutritional problems.
HIV-infected
children frequently have severe candidiasis, a yeast infection that can
cause unrelenting diaper rash and infections in the mouth and throat that
make eating difficult. (Source: excerpt from Backgrounder -- HIV Infection in Infants and Children: NIAID)
Many people do
not have 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. This illness may include fever, headache,
tiredness, and enlarged lymph nodes (glands 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. During this period, people are very infectious, and
HIV is present in large quantities in genital fluids.
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 individual. Some people may begin to have
symptoms within a few months, while others may be symptom-free for
more than 10 years.
Even during the asymptomatic period, the
virus 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. At the beginning of its life in the
human body, the virus disables or destroys these cells without
causing symptoms.
As the immune system deteriorates, a
variety of complications start to take over. For many people, their
first sign of infection 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
Symptoms of opportunistic infections common in people with AIDS include
Many manifestations of HIV disease
are similar in men and women. Both men and women with HIV may have
non-specific symptoms even early in disease, including low-grade
fevers, night sweats, fatigue, and weight loss. Anti-HIV therapies,
as well as treatments for other infections associated with HIV,
appear to be similarly effective in men and women. Other conditions,
however, occur in different frequencies in men and women.
HIV-infected men, for instance, are eight times more likely than
HIV-infected women to develop a skin cancer known as Kaposi's
sarcoma. In some studies, women had higher rates of herpes simplex
infections than men.
Data from several studies conducted by
NIAID's Terry Beirn Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS
(CPCRA) found that HIV-infected women were also more likely than
HIV-infected men to develop bacterial pneumonia. This finding may be
explained by factors such as a delay in seeking care among
HIV-infected women as compared to men, and/or less access to
anti-HIV therapies or preventive therapies for Pneumocystis carinii
pneumonia (PCP). (Source: excerpt from HIV Infection in Women, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID)
Women also
experience HIV-associated gynecologic problems, many of which occur
in uninfected women but with less frequency or
severity.
Vaginal yeast infections, common
and easily treated in most women, often are particularly persistent
and difficult to treat in HIV-infected women. Data from WIHS suggest
that these infections are considerably more frequent in HIV-infected
women. A drug called fluconazole is commonly used to treat yeast
infections. A CPCRA study demonstrated that weekly doses of
fluconazole can also safely prevent oropharyngeal and vaginal but
not esophageal yeast infections, without resulting in resistance to
the drug.
Other vaginal infections may occur
more frequently and with greater severity in HIV-infected women,
including bacterial vaginosis and common STDs such as gonorrhea,
chlamydia, and trichomoniasis.
Severe herpes simplex
virus ulcerations, which are sometimes unresponsive to
therapy with the standard drug acyclovir, can severely compromise a
woman's quality of life.
Idiopathic genital
ulcers, with no evidence of an infectious organism or
cancerous cells in the lesion are a unique manifestation of HIV
disease. These ulcers, for which there is no proven treatment, are
sometimes confused with those caused by herpes simplex virus.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections,
which cause genital warts and can lead to cervical cancer, occur
with increased frequency in HIV-infected women. A precancerous
condition associated with HPV, called cervical dysplasia, is also
more common and more severe in HIV-infected women, and more apt to
recur after treatment.
Pelvic inflammatory disease
(PID) appears to be more common and more aggressive in
HIV-infected women than in uninfected women. PID may become a
chronic and relapsing condition as a woman's immune system
deteriorates.
Menstrual irregularities
frequently are reported by HIV-infected women and are being actively
studied by NIAID-supported scientists. Although menstrual
irregularities were equally common in HIV-infected women and at-risk
HIV-negative women in a WIHS survey, women with CD4+ T-cell counts
below 50 per cubic millimeter (mm3) of blood were more likely to
report no periods than were uninfected women, or HIV-infected women
with higher CD4+ T-cell counts. (Source: excerpt from HIV Infection in Women, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID)
Symptoms that could serve as warning signals of HIV infection may go ignored because many women do not perceive themselves at risk. Symptoms include recurrent yeast infections (vaginal candidiasis), pelvic inflammatory disease, abnormal changes or dysplasia (growth and presence of precancerous cells) in cervical tissue, genital ulcers, genital warts, and severe mucosal herpes infections may also accompany HIV infection in women.
It is possible for a person infected with HIV to show no signs of infection. For women, the most common symptoms of exposure to the HIV virus are frequent or severe vaginal infections, abnormal PAP smears, or pelvic infections (PID) that are difficult to treat.
Within a few weeks of having been infected, many people have flu-like symptoms. However, in some cases, symptoms do not show for many years. As the infection progresses, some symptoms can include 1) swollen lymph glands in the neck, underarm, or groin area, 2) recurrent fever including "night sweats," 3) rapid weight loss for no apparent reason, 4) constant tiredness, 5) diarrhea and decreased appetite, 6) white spots or unusual blemishes in the mouth. (Source: excerpt from Women and HIV-AIDS: NWHIC)
Many people do not have any symptoms when they are first infected with HIV. It can take as little as a few weeks for minor flu-like symptoms to show up or as long as 10 years or more for more serious symptoms. Symptoms can include headache, chronic cough, diarrhea, swollen glands, lack of energy, loss of appetite and weight loss, frequent fevers and sweats, frequent yeast infections, skin rashes, pelvic and abdominal cramps, sores on certain parts of your body, and short-term memory loss. People age 50 and older may not recognize HIV symptoms in themselves because they think what they are feeling and experiencing is part of normal aging. (Source: excerpt from HIV, AIDS, and Older People -- Age Page -- Health Information: NIA)
When considering symptoms of HIV/AIDS, it is also important to consider HIV/AIDS as a possible cause of other medical conditions. The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that HIV/AIDS may cause:
Incubation period for HIV/AIDS: 1-2 months (for the early flu-like HIV illness); typically years or decades for progression to AIDS (2 years for children)
These general reference articles may be of interest in relation to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:
Full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis
The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of HIV/AIDS. This signs and symptoms information for HIV/AIDS has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of HIV/AIDS signs or HIV/AIDS symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of HIV/AIDS may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed HIV/AIDS symptoms.
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