How Often Do HIV Symptoms Appear After an Infection?

After someone is infected with HIV, symptoms occur in three stages. The time between the first and second symptomatic stages of HIV is a number of years, while symptoms occur more frequently as HIV disease advances. HIV disease also has a long stage in which there are no symptoms at all.

Seroconversion Illness

• The first symptoms of HIV disease occur two to four weeks after infection. These include flu-like symptoms like swollen lymph glands, fever, headache and sore throat along with skin rash. These symptoms are easily mistaken for other viral infections. Some people do not develop symptoms of seroconversion illness (also known as acute HIV infection).

Asymptomatic HIV

• Right after seroconversion illness clears up, HIV disease goes into its asymptomatic stage, which has no symptoms. Asymptomatic HIV lasts eight to 10 years on average, and many people are unaware, because of the absence of symptoms, that they have contracted HIV.

Symptomatic HIV

• After asymptomatic HIV, a chronic flu-like illness develops during the third stage of HIV disease. Symptomatic HIV lasts one to three years, with other symptoms including night sweats, fungal infections, weight loss, skin problems like dermatitis and trouble breathing.

AIDS

• A number of different conditions occur as a result of AIDS, the last stage of HIV disease. These include opportunistic infections (infections that only affect HIV-positive people or that affect them more severely), some cancers, weight loss and neurological problems including dementia. As the immune system becomes increasingly weak, people with AIDS develop more symptoms.

Considerations

• Symptoms cannot be relied on as a way to diagnose HIV infection. The only real way to know one's HIV status is through testing, and people who think they may have contracted HIV should seek out testing. See Resources below to find HIV testing locations.