Symptoms of HIV | HIV.gov

Content From: HIV.govUpdated: June 15, 20225 min read

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How Can You Tell If You Have HIV?

The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested. You can’t rely on symptoms to tell whether you have HIV.

Knowing your HIV status gives you powerful information so you can take steps to keep yourself and your partner(s) healthy:

• If you test positive, you can take medicine to treat HIV. People with HIV who take HIV medicine (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives and will not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative partners through sex. An undetectable viral load is a level of HIV in the blood so low that it can’t be detected in a standard lab test.
• If you test negative, you have more HIV prevention tools available today than ever before, like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV from sex or injection drug use, and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), HIV medicine taken within 72 hours after a possible exposure to prevent the virus from taking hold.
• If you are pregnant, you should be tested for HIV so that you can begin treatment if you’re HIV-positive. If you have HIV and take HIV medicine as prescribed throughout your pregnancy and childbirth and give HIV medicine to your baby for 4 to 6 weeks after giving birth, your risk of transmitting HIV to your baby can be less than 1%. HIV medicine will protect your own health as well.

Use the HIV Services Locator to find an HIV testing site near you.

HIV self-testing is also an option. Self-testing allows people to take an HIV test and find out their result in their own home or other private location. You can buy a self-test kit at a pharmacy or online, or your health care provider may be able to order one for you. Some health departments or community-based organizations also provide self-test kits for a reduced cost or for free. Learn more about HIV self-testing and which test might be right for you.

What Are the Symptoms of HIV?

There are several symptoms of HIV. Not everyone will have the same symptoms. It depends on the person and what stage of the disease they are in.

Below are the three stages of HIV and some of the symptoms people may experience.

Stage 1: Acute HIV Infection

Within 2 to 4 weeks after infection with HIV, about two-thirds of people will have a flu-like illness. This is the body’s natural response to HIV infection.

Flu-like symptoms can include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Rash
• Night sweats
• Muscle aches
• Sore throat
• Fatigue
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Mouth ulcers

These symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. But some people do not have any symptoms at all during this early stage of HIV.

Don’t assume you have HIV just because you have any of these symptoms—they can be similar to those caused by other illnesses. But if you think you may have been exposed to HIV, get an HIV test.

Here’s what to do:

• Find an HIV testing site near you—You can get an HIV test at your primary care provider’s office, your local health department, a health clinic, or many other places. Use the HIV Services Locator to find an HIV testing site near you.
• Request an HIV test for recent infection—Most HIV tests detect antibodies (proteins your body makes as a reaction to HIV), not HIV itself. But it can take a few weeks after you have HIV for your body to produce these antibodies. There are other types of tests that can detect HIV infection sooner. Tell your doctor or clinic if you think you were recently exposed to HIV and ask if their tests can detect early infection.
• Know your status—After you get tested, be sure to learn your test results. If you’re HIV-positive, see a health care provider as soon as possible so you can start treatment with HIV medicine. And be aware: when you are in the early stage of infection, you are at very high risk of transmitting HIV to others. It is important to take steps to reduce your risk of transmission. If you are HIV-negative, there are prevention tools like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that can help you stay negative.

Stage 2: Clinical Latency

In this stage, the virus still multiplies, but at very low levels. People in this stage may not feel sick or have any symptoms. This stage is also called chronic HIV infection.

Without HIV treatment, people can stay in this stage for 10 or 15 years, but some move through this stage faster.

If you take HIV medicine exactly as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load, you can live and long and healthy life and will not transmit HIV to your HIV-negative partners through sex.

But if your viral load is detectable, you can transmit HIV during this stage, even when you have no symptoms. It’s important to see your health care provider regularly to get your viral load checked.

Stage 3: AIDS

If you have HIV and you are not on HIV treatment, eventually the virus will weaken your body’s immune system and you will progress to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

This is the late stage of HIV infection.

Symptoms of AIDS can include:

• Rapid weight loss
• Recurring fever or profuse night sweats
• Extreme and unexplained tiredness
• Prolonged swelling of the lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck
• Diarrhea that lasts for more than a week
• Sores of the mouth, anus, or genitals
• Pneumonia
• Red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
• Memory loss, depression, and other neurologic disorders

Each of these symptoms can also be related to other illnesses. The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested. If you are HIV-positive, a health care provider will diagnose if your HIV has progressed to stage 3 (AIDS) based on certain medical criteria.

Many of the severe symptoms and illnesses of HIV disease come from the opportunistic infections that occur because your body’s immune system has been damaged. See your health care provider if you are experiencing any of these symptoms.

But be aware: Thanks to effective treatment, most people in the U.S. with HIV do not progress to AIDS. If you have HIV and remain in care, take HIV medicine as prescribed, and get and keep an undetectable viral load, you will stay healthy and will not progress to AIDS. 

Read more about the difference between HIV and AIDS.

Late Stage HIV/AIDS Symptoms, What to Expect in the Last Stage of Aids

By hospice on July 3, 2022 in Blog

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A matter of mere decades ago, there were very few effective treatments for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, more commonly known as AIDS. While there is no cure for the condition as of yet, several drugs have been developed that allow patients with the condition to go on to live long, happy lives.

AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. The earlier the virus is detected, the sooner effective treatment can be administered, increasing a patient’s chances of living a normal life and reducing their chances of developing AIDS.

That being said, if you or a loved one suffer from AIDS, it is worth learning what to expect once it has developed to its later stages. While this is not a pleasant eventuality to contemplate, it can allow you to better prepare for the future. To that end, this article will explain some of the most commonly occurring late-stage HIV symptoms.

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What is HIV and how does it lead to AIDS?

While HIV and AIDS are often spoken about within a shared context, they are not the same thing. Rather, HIV is a condition that can lead to someone developing AIDS. HIV doesn’t turn into AIDS in all cases, but all AIDS patients suffer from the condition as a direct result of HIV.

What is HIV and how does it spread?

Human immunodeficiency virus is a condition that weakens the human immune system by damaging white blood cells. These cells fight off infection in the body. When they are damaged, you are left more susceptible to diseases and everyday illnesses.

The condition can be passed through sexual contact, sharing syringes, or through pregnancy and breastfeeding. Two to six weeks after contracting the infection, most people experience flu-like symptoms for one or two weeks. Since it can be so easily mistaken for the flu and since other symptoms may not develop for years, many people do not realize they’ve caught HIV until it is quite advanced.

As more and more of your white blood cells are damaged by the virus, you may find yourself dealing with chronic symptoms of infection. These include, but are not limited to:

• Swollen lymph nodes.
• A high temperature.
• Tiredness.
• Diarrhea.
• Unexplained weight loss.

What is AIDS?

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is the final stage of untreated HIV, during which the body’s white cell count is at a critical low. This leaves the patient unable to fight off opportunistic infections that are less likely to occur in those with robust immune systems.

Some of these conditions include, but are not limited to:

• Pneumonia.
• Tuberculosis (TB).
• Lymphoma and cervical cancer.
• Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
• Encephalopathy.

As well as the symptoms associated with these conditions, an AIDS patient in the last stage of the disease will experience further symptoms.

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Symptoms shown in the late stages of AIDS

Developing a secondary illness such as pneumonia or cancer can be a warning sign of AIDS. Doctors will also examine your white blood cells, looking for a low CD4 T lymphocyte count. It is this cell that is primarily responsible for fighting off infection.

As the patient reaches the final stages of AIDS, other signs will develop that are difficult to miss.

Sudden weight loss

With terminal stage AIDS, abrupt and otherwise unexplained weight loss is a common symptom. While the exact cause of this is uncertain, it is thought that it has something to do with the difficulty an AIDS patient may experience in absorbing nutrients from their food.

Chronic diarrhea is a symptom experienced by almost 100% of AIDS patients. This exacerbates problems with weight loss.

Fever

Fever is caused by your immune system trying to remove infections from your body. Because people with AIDS have a compromised immune system, the body works hard but ineffectively to fight infection, resulting in recurring fever.

Tiredness and weakness

Due to their weakened immune system and difficulty absorbing nutrients from food, many people with HIV/AIDS deal with chronic fatigue and weakness. They will be far more easily tired than they used to be, becoming exhausted after performing daily tasks or walking.

Changes in memory and mood

People with late-stage HIV may experience mood disorders, becoming depressed and losing interest in old hobbies. Some patients may struggle with memory and may even develop dementia. This can be distressing and confusing not only for the patient but also for their loved ones.

How to support patients with late Symptoms of HIV

Late-stage AIDS can be a very upsetting and difficult condition to live with—but there is help out there. Hospice care can provide emotional support and professional medical assistance, allowing patients to live out their final days in comfort and giving carers much-needed help.

If you or a loved one are currently dealing with AIDS, know you do not have to do so alone. At the All American Hospice, we provide professional and compassionate care, allowing patients and their loved ones to enjoy the time they have left together.

If you would like to find out more about hospice care for late-stage AIDS patients, you can find more information on hospice eligibility and services on the All American Hospice website.

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Red Spots on the Skin: What Are Leukemia Spots?

HIV symptoms, infection and spread – Udmurt AIDS Center

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV attacks the immune system by destroying the white blood cells that help the body fight infection and disease. Testing is the only sure way to tell if you have HIV. The following are symptoms that may serve as a warning that you have an infection.

Method 1 of 3: Identify early symptoms

1

Determine if you are feeling extremely tired for no apparent reason. Fatigue can be a sign of a wide variety of illnesses, and it also appears as a symptom in HIV-infected people. This symptom should not cause you more concern if it is the only one you feel, but it is worth thinking about in the future.

• – Extreme fatigue is not the feeling when you just want to sleep. Do you feel tired all the time, and even after a good night’s sleep. Do you lie down during the day more often than usual and avoid strenuous activity because you feel low on energy. This type of fatigue is cause for concern.
• – If this symptom persists for more than a few weeks or months, testing should be done to rule out HIV.

2

Watch for fever or excessive night sweats. These symptoms often occur in the early stages of HIV, during the so-called primary or acute stage of HIV infection. Again, many people don’t have these symptoms, but those who did usually felt them 2-4 weeks after contracting HIV.

• – Fever and sweating are symptoms of the flu and the common cold. If it is a cold season or a flu epidemic, you may have contracted these diseases.
• – Chills, sore muscles, sore throat and headache are also symptoms of flu and colds, but may also be signs of early HIV infection.

3

Check for swelling in the tonsils in the throat, as well as the lymph nodes in the armpits and in the groin. Lymph nodes swell as a result of infection. It doesn’t happen to everyone who has early HIV, but among those who do, these are the most common.

• – In HIV infection Lymph nodes in the neck tend to swell more than those in the armpits and groin.
• – Lymph nodes can swell as a result of other types of infections, such as colds and flu, so further testing is needed to make a diagnosis.

4

Watch out for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms can also be a sign of early HIV infection. Check if such symptoms persist for a long time.

5

Note mouth and genital sores. If mouth sores occur along with other symptoms already mentioned, and especially if you have not usually had such sores before, then this may be an early sign of HIV infection. Ulcers on the genitals are also a sign that HIV infection was possible.

Method 2 of 3: Determination of progressive symptoms

1

Do not rule out dry cough. This symptom occurs in the late stages of HIV, sometimes even for many years after infection, when the virus was latent in the body. Such a seemingly innocuous symptom is easy to miss at first, especially if it occurs during the allergenic or flu season or during the cold season. If you have a dry cough that you can’t get rid of with antihistamines or an inhaler, it could be a sign of HIV.

2

Look for unusual spots (red, brown, pink or purple) on the skin. People in advanced stages of HIV often develop skin rashes, especially on the face and torso. The rash may be inside the mouth or nose. This is a sign that HIV is turning into AIDS.

• – Flaky, red skin is also a sign of advanced HIV. Spots can be in the form of boils and bumps.
• – A rash on the body is usually not accompanied by a cold and fever. Accordingly, if you alternately experience such symptoms, consult a doctor immediately.

3

Note pneumonia. Pneumonia often occurs when the immune system is weakened for various reasons. People with advanced HIV are more likely to get pneumonia when they come into contact with germs that don’t normally cause such a severe reaction.

4

Check for thrush especially in the mouth. Late stage HIV usually causes thrush in the mouth called stomatitis. It looks like white or other unusual patches on the tongue or inside the mouth. This is a warning sign that the immune system cannot fight infection effectively.

5

Examine your nails for fungus. Cracked or chipped, yellow or brown nails are a common symptom of advanced HIV. Nails become more susceptible to fungi, which the body is normally able to fight off.

6

Determine if you are experiencing rapid weight loss for no known reason. In the early stages of HIV, this can be caused by severe diarrhea, in the later stages by “atrophy”, a strong reaction of the body to the presence of HIV in the body.

7

Watch out for memory loss, depression or other neurological problems. In the last stages, HIV affects the cognitive functions of the brain. These symptoms are serious in themselves and should be investigated in any case.

Method 3 of 3: HIV Data

1

Find out if you are at risk. There are several conditions that put you at risk of contracting HIV. If you have such situations, then you are at risk:

• – You have had unprotected anal, vaginal or oral sex.
• – You shared needles and syringes with other people.
• – You have been diagnosed with or treated for a sexually transmitted disease (STD), tuberculosis, or hepatitis.
• – You received a blood transfusion between 1978 and 1985, years before blood testing began to prevent transfusion of contaminated blood.

2

Do not wait for symptoms to appear before testing. Many people with HIV do not know they have it. The virus can stay in the body for more than 10 years before symptoms appear. If you have reason to suspect that you have contracted HIV, do not refuse testing because you have no symptoms.

3

Take an HIV test. This is the most accurate method in determining HIV. Contact us at: Izhevsk, st. Labor 17a, tel. (3412) 21-15-94 or to one of our zonal centers located in the cities of Glazov, Votkinsk, Sarapul, Mozhga, as well as in the villages of Uva and Igra.

• – Testing is simple and absolutely FREE.
• – If you’ve been tested for HIV, don’t let the fear keep you from getting your test results. Knowing whether or not you are infected will either change your lifestyle or your way of thinking.

Advice

• – If you are in doubt about whether or not to test, do it. This is the only correct and safe action for you and for others.
• – HIV is not transmitted through droplets or food. This virus does not live long outside the body.

5 stages of HIV infection – AIDS center

HIV infection is a very specific disease, which can be known many years after infection. For more than one year, the disease can pass in a latent stage, flowing almost asymptomatically. However, at the beginning of HIV infection, the so-called acute stage begins, the symptoms of which can become “bells” in order to be tested for HIV, especially if there has recently been a risk of infection.

In modern Russian medicine, there are 5 main stages of HIV infection, which, in turn, are also divided into several types. The first stage is incubation. It starts from the moment the human immunodeficiency virus enters the body and can last from 3 weeks to 3 months, however, there have been cases when the incubation stage lasted a whole year. During this period, the virus actively multiplies in the body. It is impossible to determine HIV at this stage, since the disease is completely asymptomatic, and the immune system has not yet begun to produce antibodies to the virus, so HIV tests in the body cannot yet be determined. The next stage is the stage of primary manifestations. It can take place in different ways: without symptoms (in this case, the only response to HIV is the production of antibodies), or acute HIV infection occurs, which can pass without secondary diseases or with them. If the acute stage passes without secondary diseases, then, as a rule, it proceeds like a common cold – a slight fever, pharyngitis, swollen lymph nodes. If there are still secondary diseases, then they are treated quickly enough, and arise as a result of low immunity. It is the acute stage that should be the first “bell”, after which a person must be tested for HIV. At this stage, antibodies to HIV have already begun to be produced by the body, so tests should already detect the presence of the virus in the body.

The acute stage is followed by the subclinical stage, which can last up to twenty years, but usually lasts 6-7 years. It is asymptomatic and only enlarged lymph nodes are a manifestation of the disease.