Symptoms of viral infection vary depending on the type of viral infection, the area of the body that is infected, the age and health history of the patient and other factors. The symptoms of viral infection can also resemble symptoms of other diseases, such as bacterial infections.
Symptoms may affect almost any area of the body or body system and include fever, chills, headache, stiff neck, irritability, enlarged glands, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, rash, abdominal pain, sore throat, ear pain, cough, weight loss, fatigue, body aches, and other flu-like symptoms.
In infants, signs of viral infection can include excessive crying, excessive sleepiness, difficulty with feeding, and a bulging of the soft spot on the top of the head.
Many viral infections, such as upper respiratory infection and seasonal influenza, are self limiting. People who are generally healthy are often able to survive these infections without developing serious complications. However, even young and healthy people may develop serious complications to some viral infections. For example, women infected with certain strains of HPV are at risk for developing cervical cancer.
Certain risk factors make it more likely that a person will develop serious, even lethal, complications from a viral infection. People who are generally most at risk for developing complications include those who have a compromised immune system due to such diseases as HIV/AIDS or combined immunodeficiencies. People who take certain medications, such as corticosteroids, which suppress the body's natural immune response, are also at risk. Other risk factors include malnutrition, high stress levels and being very young or very old.
Complications of a viral infection can include a secondary bacterial infection, pneumonia, dehydration, shock, the development of some forms of cancer and coma.
The viral infection HIV leads to the critical and eventually fatal complication of AIDS in all people who contract the infection....more about Viral diseases »
The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Viral diseases includes the 3 symptoms listed below:
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The list of other diseases or medical conditions that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses for Viral diseases includes:
More information about symptoms of Viral diseases and related conditions:
Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions, or drug side effect causes of that symptom.
Onset of Viral diseases: Viral infections are common among people of all ages but often seem to be concentrated in infants and 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 Viral diseases. This signs and symptoms information for Viral diseases has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Viral diseases signs or Viral diseases symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Viral diseases 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 Viral diseases symptoms.
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