HIV Symptoms in Phases

HIV disease has four phases, or stages, three of which are symptomatic and one that is not. The final stage of HIV disease is AIDS, a syndrome that leads to a wide range of other conditions and symptoms. Although symptoms are at some stages clinically significant, the only way to know one's HIV status is through testing.

Acute HIV Infection

• Acute HIV infection occurs about a month after exposure to the virus. This is called seroconversion illness, which is the name given to a group of symptoms that can occur when someone is newly infected with HIV. According to hiv-symptoms.info, symptoms include aches and pains, fever, headaches, swollen lymph nodes, digestive problems and skin rashes. Some people don't develop any symptoms at all during acute HIV infection, and others' symptoms are too mild to notice.
  The important thing to note about these symptoms is that they are not diagnostic, meaning that a person who sought ordinary medical treatment for them at this time would not be diagnosed with HIV on the basis of these symptoms alone. Individuals who believe they have been exposed to the virus should seek out HIV testing.

Asymptomatic HIV

• After seroconversion illness, HIV-disease enters an asymptomatic phase, which lasts for an average of 10 years. However, there is no way to know how long any individual will remain asymptomatic.
  Because no symptoms are experienced at this stage, many expose others to HIV without knowing that they have themselves have contracted the virus. This can be spread through unprotected penetrative sexual contact or by sharing hypodermic needles, or it can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. To learn more about HIV prevention methods see Resources at the end of this article.

Symptomatic HIV

• Symptomatic HIV disease occurs after asymptomatic HIV and before AIDS. Symptoms of this stage, which lasts for between one and three years, include a chronic flu-like illness, night sweats, severe weight loss, and fungal infections along with skin and breathing problems, according to hiv-symptoms.info.
  Because the symptoms of seroconversion illness are mild and the following, long stage of HIV disease is asymptomatic, some people begin to suspect for the first time that they have contracted HIV at this stage.

AIDS

• Acquired immune deficiency syndrome leads primarily to four different kinds of conditions: opportunistic infections, wasting, malignancies and neurological conditions.
  Opportunistic infections, as their name indicates, take advantage of the weakened state of the immune system to cause infections (viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoan) that would not cause illness in those whose immune system is healthy. According to aids.org, common opportunistic infections include cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis, thrush, pneumocystis pneumonia and tuberculosis.
  Wasting is a condition of severe weight loss that begins in third-stage HIV disease and can be made worse by HIV and antiretroviral treatments, both of which can lead to symptoms such as nausea, loss of appetite and diarrhea.
  AIDS is linked primarily to two different types of malignancies, Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphomas. Kaposi's sarcoma is a skin cancer caused by human herpesvirus 8; lymphomas are cancers of cells of the lymphatic system, which is part of the body's immune response.
  Neurological conditions include AIDS dementia complex. According to HIV InSite, AIDS dementia complex can lead to motor, thinking and behavior problems and is associated with a high risk of death.

Testing

• Before the development of HIV-specific symptoms, the only way to know one's status is to be tested. Being tested for HIV can identify an infection before it has become advanced and caused serious damage to the immune system. In addition to protecting others from infection, this allows an individual and his doctor to make decisions about a course of treatment.
  Most HIV tests check for the presence of antibodies to HIV to make a diagnosis. Since the process of developing a detectable level of antibodies (seroconversion) takes an average of one month, a test done less than 30 days from the time of infection is unlikely to return a reliable result. Individuals who test negative after one month after possible exposure may wish to be tested again, as seroconversion can sometimes take between three and six months. Hivtest.org (see Resources at the end of the article) can help people find out more about HIV testing and locate a nearby testing center.