Being aware of HIV symptoms is very important for everyone's life for preventing the condition in early stages.HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), a sexually transmitted disease that attacks the human’s immune system. This virus mainly attacks your CD4 or T4 cells that are essential to fight against the infections.
Ultimately, this virus overwhelms T4 cells and makes your body unable to fight against the diseases and infections.
Whenever your body’s T4 cell count drops below 200 per cubic millimeter of blood, a virus takes hold of your weakened immune system; ultimately you will be diagnosed with AIDS. HIV symptoms vary based on the extent of infection that spread in your body.
HIV symptoms during early stages of infection:
HIV in early stages is also called as acute HIV. During the initial stages, you won’t experience any symptoms at all.
Fever is the most common sign that you experience two to four weeks after becoming infected. This illness is called acute HIV syndrome. Most common signs during the initial stages include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Rash
- Inflammation of lymph glands
- Sore throat
Usually, these symptoms disappear within a week to a month. So, it can be mistaken as a viral infection.
Even you don’t experience any symptoms you can transmit the virus to others. Once the virus enters into your body, your immune system becomes affected.
The virus doubles its count in the lymph nodes and gradually destroys the T4 cells, which are the white blood cells that manage your whole immune system.
During the early stages, the virus is in high amounts in your body and it gradually spreads to various parts of the body, mainly the lymph nodes. The symptoms may be persistent or severe and not appear for several years.
This period of asymptomatic infection varies from individual to individual. During this period, virus actively multiplies, infects and kills immune system cells.
After affecting the T4 cells, the virus releases its RNA into the cells. Then RNA attaches itself to the DNA of the host cell and thus becoming a part of the cells’ genetic material.
Gradually the virus doubles its count and enters into the bloodstream. This results in increased count of virus in the blood and decreased count of T4 cells.
The battle between virus and T4 cells continues even you are symptom free. When the virus reaches its high level in your body, immune system is unable to fight against the infection. Your body becomes completely in favor of the virus.
These type of infections are more opportunistic infections because they horde your body with the advantage of its low immunity. They come along with AIDS.
The most common opportunistic infections that affect HIV positive persons include:
- Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC)
- Bacillary Angiomatosis (all caused by bacteria)
- Tuberculosis (TB)
- Salmonellosis
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
- Herpes
- Human papillomavirus (HPV)
- Viral hepatitis
- Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) (caused by virus)
- Pneumocystis Carinii pneumonia (PCP)
- Cryptococcal meningitis (caused by fungus)
- Candidiasis
When HIV adds with AIDS, symptoms of AIDS start to appear.
HIV symptoms during the later stages of infection:
- Weight loss
- Lack of energy
- Sweats and frequent fevers
- Severe or recurrent vaginal yeast infection
- Bruising easily more than usual
- Ongoing bouts of diarrhea
- Unusual or recurrent skin rashes
- Increased shortness of breath
- Change in personality, mental deterioration or an altered state of consciousness
- Numbness or pain in the hands or feet
- Unexplained bleeding from growths on the skin, from mucus membranes or from any opening in the body.
- Thick and whitish coating on your tongue or mouth i.e. due to the yeast infection and sometimes come with sore throat
- Emerging purplish or discolored growths on your skin or inside your mouth
- Severe and unexplained fatigue along with dizziness, lightheadedness, and headaches
- Severe pelvic inflammatory diseases
- Frequent occurrence of infectious diseases like herpes
- Rapid weight loss i.e. more than 10 pounds
- Swelling of the glands in armpit, throat, or groin
- Periods of deep, continued and dry coughing
No comments:
Post a Comment