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| Home » About HIVAIDS » Symptoms |
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| What are the early symptoms
of HIV infection? |
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| Many people do not develop any symptoms when they
first become infected with HIV. Some people, however, get a
flu-like illness within three to six weeks after exposure to
the virus. This illness, called Acute HIV Syndrome, may include
fever, headache, tiredness, nausea, diarrhoea and enlarged lymph
nodes (organs of the immune system that can be felt in the neck,
armpits and groin). These symptoms usually disappear within
a week to a month and are often mistaken for another viral infection. |
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| During this period, the quantity of the virus
in the body will be high and it spreads to different parts,
particularly the lymphoid tissue. At this stage, the infected
person is more likely to pass on the infection to others. The
viral quantity then drops as the body's immune system launches
an orchestrated fight. |
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| More persistent or severe symptoms may not surface
for several years, even a decade or more, after HIV first enters
the body in adults, or within two years in children born with
the virus. This period of "asymptomatic" infection
varies from individual to individual. Some people may begin
to have symptoms as soon as a few months, while others may be
symptom-free for more than 10 years. However, during the "asymptomatic"
period, the virus will be actively multiplying, infecting, and
killing cells of the immune system. |
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here to consult an expert. |
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| What Happens Inside the Body?
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| Once HIV enters the human body, it
attaches itself to a White Blood Cell (WBC) called CD4. Also,
called T4 cells, they are the main disease fighters of the body.
Whenever there is an infection, CD4 cells lead the infection-fighting
army of the body to protect it from falling sick. Damage of
these cells, hence can affect a person's disease-fighting capability
and general health. |
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After making a foothold on the CD4 cell, the virus injects
its RNA into the cell. The RNA then gets attached to the DNA
of the host cell and thus becomes part of the cell's genetic
material. It is a virtual takeover of the cell. Using the
cell's division mechanism, the virus now replicates and churns
out hundreds of thousands of its own copies. These cells then
enter the blood stream, get attached to other CD4 cells and
continue replicating. As a result, the number of the virus
in the blood rises and that of the CD4 cells declines.
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Because of this process, immediately after infection, the
viral load of an infected individual will be very high and
the number of CD4, low. But, after a while, the body's immune
system responds vigorously by producing more and more CD4
cells to fight the virus. Much of the virus gets removed from
the blood. To fight the fast-replicating virus, as many as
a billion CD4 cells are produced every day, but the virus
too increases on a similar scale. The battle between the virus
and the CD4 cells continues even as the infected person remains
symptom-free.
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But after a few years, which can last up to a decade or even
more, when the number of the virus in the body rises to very
high levels, the body's immune mechanism finds it difficult
to carry on with the battle. The balance shifts in favour
of the virus and the person becomes more susceptible to various
infections. These infections are called Opportunistic Infections
because they swarm the body using the opportunity of its low
immunity. At this stage, the number of CD4 cells per millilitre
of blood (called CD4 Count), which ranges between 500 to 1,500
in a healthy individual, falls below 200. The Viral Load,
the quantity of the virus in the blood, will be very high
at this stage.
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Opportunistic infections are caused by bacteria, virus, fungi
and parasites. Some of the common opportunistic infections
that affect HIV positive persons are: Mycobacterium avium
complex (MAC), Tuberculosis (TB), Salmonellosis, Bacillary
Angiomatosis (all caused by bacteria); Cytomegalovirus (CMV),
Viral hepatitis, Herpes, Human papillomavirus (HPV), Progressive
multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) (caused by virus); Candidiasis,
Cryptococcal meningitis (caused by fungus) and Pneumocystis
Carinii pneumonia (PCP). Toxoplasmosis. Cryptosporidiosis
(caused by parasites). HIV positive persons are also prone
to cancers like Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoma.
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| The Center for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta
has listed a series of diseases as AIDS-defining. When these
diseases appear, it is a sign that the infected individual has
entered the later stage of HIV infection and has started developing
AIDS. The progression of HIV positive persons into the AIDS
stage is highly individual. Some people can reach the AIDS stage
in about five years, while some remain disease free for more
than a decade. Measurement of the viral load and the CD4 count
helps a doctor in assessing an infected person's health condition.
Click here
to consult an expert. |
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| What are the later symptoms
of HIV/AIDS? |
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- Lack of energy
- Weight loss
- Frequent fevers and sweats
- A thick, whitish coating of the tongue or mouth (thrush)
that is caused by a yeast infection and sometimes accompanied
by a sore throat
- Severe or recurring vaginal yeast infections
- Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease or severe and frequent
infections like herpes zoster
- Periods of extreme and unexplained fatigue that may be
combined with headaches, lightheadedness, and/or dizziness
- Rapid loss of more than 10 pounds of weight that is not
due to increased physical exercise or dieting
- Bruising more easily than normal
- Long-lasting bouts of diarrhoea
- Swelling or hardening of glands located in the throat,
armpit, or groin
- Periods of continued, deep, dry coughing
- Increasing shortness of breath
- The appearance of discoloured or purplish growths on the
skin or inside the mouth
- Unexplained bleeding from growths on the skin, from mucous
membranes, or from any opening in the body
- Recurring or unusual skin rashes
- Severe numbness or pain in the hands or feet, the loss
of muscle control and reflex, paralysis or loss of muscular
strength
- An altered state of consciousness, personality change,
or mental deterioration
- Children may grow slowly or fall sick frequently. HIV
positive persons are also found to be more vulnerable to
some cancers.
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