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Phases of the Disease: From HIV Infection to AIDS
Once a person is infected with HIV, he may experience cold or influenza-like symptoms, including fever and swollen glands in the neck, underarms, and groin, within a month or two. This is called the “acute phase.” Once these symptoms subside, he could live many years without experiencing symptoms associated with AIDS. During this time, he may not know he is infected or appear sick. However, he is able to spread the virus to others who come in contact with his bodily fluids. A person’s appearance cannot be used as an indicator of whether or not one is HIV-positive.
Early Stages of AIDS
Eventually HIV infection progresses so that more obvious signs of sickness begin to appear. The first symptoms can be any of the following:
- Weight loss (greater than 10 percent of body weight)
- Lack of energy
- Chronic diarrhea for more than one month
- Chronic cough for more than one month
- Painful sores or rashes
- Sores on the lips that do not heal
- Fevers and night sweats
- Swollen glands in neck, armpits, and groin (very soon after infection)
- Thrush (a white rash) in the mouth or on the genitals
- Repeated infections in throat or ears
- Recurring shingles
- Late Stages of AIDS
People living with AIDS can develop any of these opportunistic infections or symptoms:
- Respiratory conditions such as atypical tuberculosis and severe recurrent pneumonia
- Further weight loss
- Extreme fatigue
- Dark-blue or reddish-brown marks on the skin (known as Kaposi’s sarcoma)
- Painful and itchy skin rashes
- Prickly pain in the hands and feet
- Thrush (a white rash) in the mouth or on the genitals
- Mental disorders, such as dementia, resulting from infections in the brain