HIV infection is a chronic, progressive, and degenerative disease. Because HIV attacks the immune system, this means that the body’s capacity to fight other diseases is weakened. If you have been diagnosed to have HIV, it is important that you become aware of the symptoms and stages of HIV infection, so that you know your own status. This will help you to better manage your condition. The details below may help you to achieve that.

Early Symptoms and Stages of HIV Infection:

As stated by MayoClinic.org, early HIV symptoms usually occur within a couple of weeks to a month or two after infection and are often like a bad case of the flu. In many people, early HIV signs and symptoms include:

  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Fatigue
  • Swollen lymph glands
  • Rash
  • Sore joints or muscles
  • Sore throat

These early HIV symptoms are called acute retroviral syndrome or primary HIV infection and are the body’s natural response. Symptoms, if they appear at all, usually disappear within a week to a month and are often mistaken for those of another viral infection. During this period, you are very infectious. More-persistent or more-severe symptoms of HIV infection may not appear for several years after the initial infection. (1)

Three Stages of HIV Infection:

According to Aidsinfo.nih.gov, there are three stages of HIV infection: (3)

    1. Acute HIV Infection – Acute HIV infection is the earliest stage of HIV infection, and it generally develops within 2 to 4 weeks after infection with HIV. During this time, some people have flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, and rash. In the acute stage of infection, HIV multiplies rapidly and spreads throughout the body. The virus attacks and destroys the infection-fighting CD4 cells of the immune system. During the acute HIV infection stage, the level of HIV in the blood is very high, which greatly increases the risk of HIV transmission. (3)
    2. Chronic HIV Infection – The second stage of HIV infection is chronic HIV infection (also called asymptomatic HIV infection or clinical latency). During this stage of the disease, HIV continues to multiply in the body but at very low levels. People with chronic HIV infection may not have any HIV-related symptoms, but they can still spread HIV to others. Without treatment with HIV medicines, chronic HIV infection usually advances to AIDS in 10 years or longer, though in some people it may advance faster. (3)
    3. AIDS – AIDS is the final, most severe stage of HIV infection. Because HIV has severely damaged the immune system, the body can’t fight off opportunistic infections. (Opportunistic infections are infections and infection-related cancers that occur more frequently or are more severe in people with weakened immune systems than in people with healthy immune systems.) People with HIV are diagnosed with AIDS if they have a CD4 count of less than 200 cells/mm3 or if they have certain opportunistic infections. Without treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about 3 years. (3)

Transmission of HIV:

As noted by Cdc.gov, you can get or transmit HIV only through specific activities. Most commonly, people get or transmit HIV through sexual behaviors and needle or syringe use. Only certain body fluids—blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum), rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk—from a person who has HIV can transmit HIV. These fluids must come in contact with a mucous membrane or damaged tissue or be directly injected into the bloodstream (from a needle or syringe) for transmission to occur. Mucous membranes are found inside the rectum, vagina, penis, and mouth. Having anal or vaginal sex with someone who has HIV without using a condom or taking medicines to prevent or treat HIV. For the HIV-negative partner, receptive anal sex (bottoming) is the highest-risk sexual behavior, but you can also get HIV from insertive anal sex (topping). (4)

HIV Treatment:

Also stated by Mayoclinic.org, there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, but many different drugs are available to control the virus. Such treatment is called antiretroviral therapy, or ART. Each class of drug blocks the virus in different ways. ART is now recommended for everyone, regardless of CD4 T cell counts. It’s recommended to combine three drugs from two classes to avoid creating drug-resistant strains of HIV. (2)

Sources:

1.) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hiv-aids/expert-answers/early-hiv-symptoms/faq-20058415

2.) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hiv-aids/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373531

3.) https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/19/46/the-stages-of-hiv-infection

4.) https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/transmission.html