HIV AIDS Symptoms. There are no specific HIV symptoms. Some people reported having flu-like symptoms between 2 and 5 weeks after infection (from risky contact). However, not much attention is usually paid to this flu-like condition. The cases described do not account for more than 10% of infections. The symptoms would be like those of a normal flu. Therefore, the only way to know if an infection has occurred is to be tested for HIV. This is three months after the risk contact.
HIV AIDS Symptoms Many infected individuals do not present symptoms, especially in the first years and generally for a long time. The virus gradually weakens the immune system, and it would be after an average of 8-10 years without treatment (the disease would have progressed, and the immune system would highly deteriorate) that the following symptoms would appear, according to the Red Cross: Sudden weight loss exceeding 10% Fever or night sweats for more than a month Chronic diarrhea for more than a month Persistent and acute fatigue.
Other secondary AIDS symptoms: dry cough for more than a month, hives, mouth and throat ulcers, oral and throat thrush, herpes, and inflamed lymph nodes. AIDS Symptoms In the article “AIDS Symptoms” by Sanitas from Spain, it is stated that the development of AIDS implies a severe weakening of the immune system, resulting in a gradual decrease of CD4 lymphocytes.
This implies that when this loss of CD4 lymphocytes begins, the risk of contracting any type of infection increases in parallel. These infections, which don’t usually occur in healthy individuals, are called opportunistic infections, and most of them share the aforementioned symptoms and others specific to each of them. Additionally, there are other non-infectious diseases that find a favorable environment for their development when the decrease of CD4 lymphocytes reaches significant levels.
This is why AIDS-related diseases can develop depending on the CD4 count at each moment:
HIV AIDS Symptoms
1. Less than 350 CD4 lymphocytes per milliliter of blood:
Tuberculosis Simple herpes Oral candidiasis Vaginal candidiasis Herpes zoster Kaposi’s sarcoma (a very rare type of cancer) Hodgkin’s lymphoma
2. Less than 200 CD4 lymphocytes per milliliter of blood:
Pneumonia Esophagitis due to Candida infection Bacillary angiomatosis or bartonellosis, a bacterial infection that affects all tissues, mainly the skin.
3. Less than 100 CD4 lymphocytes per milliliter of blood:
Meningitis Cryptosporidium diarrhea Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy Toxoplasmosis encephalitis
These are just the most frequent diseases that develop with AIDS, and each of them has specific symptoms.
If you are HIV positive, you should seek immediate treatment from a specialist.
Don’t miss our article, “What is HIV AIDS?“
