Immediately following infection with HIV, most individuals develop a brief,
nonspecific “viral illness” consisting of low grade fever, rash, muscle aches,
headache and/or fatigue. Like any other viral illness, these symptoms resolve
over a period of five to 10 days. Then for a period of several years (sometimes
as long as several decades), people infected with HIV are asymptomatic (no
symptoms). However, their immune system is gradually being destroyed by the
virus. When this destruction has progressed to a critical point, symptoms of AIDS
appear.
These symptoms are as follows:
- extreme fatigue
- rapid weight loss from an unknown cause (more than 10 lbs. in two months
for no reason)
- appearance of swollen or tender glands in the neck, armpits or groin, for
no apparent reason, lasting for more than four weeks
- unexplained shortness of breath, frequently accompanied by a dry cough,
not due to allergies or smoking
- persistent diarrhea
- intermittent high fever or soaking night sweats of unknown origin
- a marked change in an illness pattern, either in frequency, severity, or
length of sickness
- appearance of one or more purple spots on the surface of the skin, inside
the mouth, anus or nasal passages
- whitish coating on the tongue, throat or vagina
- forgetfulness, confusion and other signs of mental deterioration
It can take as short as a year to as long as 10 to 15 years to go from being
infected with HIV to "full-blown" AIDS.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a person is
considered to have AIDS when they have a T cell count (also called CD4 cell count)
of 200 or less (healthy T cell levels range from 500 to 1500) or they have an
AIDS-defining condition. The AIDS-defining conditions are:
- Candidiasis
- Cervical cancer (invasive)
- Coccidioidomycosis, Cryptococcosis, Cryptosporidiosis
- Cytomegalovirus disease
- Encephalopathy (HIV-related)
- Herpes simplex (severe infection)
- Histoplasmosis
- Isosporiasis
- Kaposi's sarcoma
- Lymphoma (certain types)
- Mycobacterium avium complex
- Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
- Pneumonia (recurrent)
- Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
- Salmonella septicemia (recurrent)
- Toxoplasmosis of the brain
- Tuberculosis
- Wasting syndrome
People who are not infected with HIV may also develop these diseases; the
presence of any one of these conditions does not mean the person has AIDS. To
be diagnosed with AIDS, a person must be infected with HIV.
Some people infected with HIV may develop a disease that is less serious
than AIDS, referred to as AIDS Related Complex (ARC). ARC is a condition caused
by the AIDS virus in which the patient tests positive for AIDS infection and
has a specific set of clinical symptoms. However, ARC patients' symptoms are
often less severe than those with classic AIDS because the degree of destruction
of the immune system has not progressed as far as it has in patients with classic
AIDS.
Symptoms of ARC may include loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, night sweats,
skin rashes, diarrhea, tiredness, lack of resistance to infection or swollen lymph
nodes.
Note: Not everyone who has been infected with HIV develops AIDS. Very rarely,
some individuals can be infected with HIV yet maintain normal immune function and
general good health even after 20 years of infection.
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