Symptoms Of AIDS Medical Facts


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AIDS Symptoms

	Original Author Healthocrates Staff
	Physician/Scientist Dodd Caroline
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	Contributing Member Akansh Akansh
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Early symptoms

Many people will not have any symptoms when they first become infected with HIV. They may, however, have a flu-like illness within a month or two after exposure to the virus. This illness may include

Fever
Headache
Recurrent oral ulcerations
Recurrent respiratory infections
Frequent yeast infections
Tiredness
Enlarged lymph nodes (glands of the immune system easily felt in the neck and groin)
Numbness in hands and feet
Inability to control muscles and reflexes
Mental deterioration
Diarrhea

These symptoms usually disappear within a week to a month and are often mistaken for those of another viral infection. During this period, people are very infectious, and HIV is present in large quantities in genital fluids.

Later symptoms

More persistent or severe symptoms may not appear for 10 years or more after HIV first enters the body in adults, or within 2 years in children born with HIV infection. This period of asymptomatic infection varies greatly in each person. Some people may begin to have symptoms within a few months, while others may be symptom-free for more than 10 years.

Even during the asymptomatic period, the virus is actively multiplying, infecting, and killing cells of the immune system. The virus can also hide within infected cells and be inactive. The most obvious effect of HIV infection is a decline in the number of CD4 positive T (CD4+) cells found in the blood-the immune system's key infection fighters. The virus slowly disables or destroys these cells without causing symptoms.

As the immune system becomes more debilitated, a variety of complications start to take over. For many people, the first signs of infection are large lymph nodes, or swollen glands that may be enlarged for more than 3 months. Other symptoms often experienced months to years before the onset of AIDS include

Lack of energy
Weight loss
Frequent fevers and sweats
Persistent or frequent yeast infections (oral or vaginal)
Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
Pelvic inflammatory disease in women that does not respond to treatment
Short-term memory loss

Some people develop frequent and severe herpes infections that cause mouth, genital, or anal sores, or a painful nerve disease called shingles. Children may grow slowly or get sick a frequently.

Below: Did I just contract HIV? Symptoms of a primary HIV invection.

WHAT IS AIDS?

Symptoms of opportunistic infections common in people with AIDS include

Coughing and shortness of breath
Seizures and lack of coordination
Difficult or painful swallowing
Mental symptoms such as confusion and forgetfulness
Severe and persistent diarrhea
Fever
Vision loss
Nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting
Weight loss and extreme fatigue
Severe headaches
Coma

Children with AIDS may get the same opportunistic infections as do adults with the disease. In addition, they also may have severe forms of the typically common childhood bacterial infections, such as conjunctivitis (pink eye), ear infections, and tonsillitis.

People with AIDS are also particularly prone to developing various cancers, especially those caused by viruses such as Kaposi's sarcoma and cervical cancer, or cancers of the immune system known as lymphomas. These cancers are usually more aggressive and difficult to treat in people with AIDS. Signs of Kaposi's sarcoma in light-skinned people are round brown, reddish, or purple spots that develop in the skin or in the mouth. In dark-skinned people, the spots are more pigmented.

During the course of HIV infection, most people experience a gradual decline in the number of CD4+ T cells, although some may have abrupt and dramatic drops in their CD4+ T-cell counts. A person with CD4+ T cells above 200 may experience some of the early symptoms of HIV disease. Others may have no symptoms even though their CD4+ T-cell count is below 200.

Many people are so debilitated by the symptoms of AIDS that they cannot hold a steady job or do household chores. Other people with AIDS may experience phases of intense life-threatening illness followed by phases in which they function normally.

A small number of people first infected with HIV 10 or more years ago have not developed symptoms of AIDS. Scientists are trying to determine what factors may account for the lack of progression to AIDS in some people, such as

Whether their immune systems have particular characteristics
Whether they were infected with a less aggressive strain of the virus
If their genes may protect them from the effects of HIV

Scientists hope that understanding the body's natural method of controlling infection may lead to ideas for protective HIV vaccines and use of vaccines to prevent the disease from progressing.

Symptoms commonly occur toward the end of the menstrual period or during the few days after it. For many women, the first symptom is mild to moderate pain (often aching) in the lower abdomen, which may be worse on one side. Other symptoms include irregular vaginal bleeding and a vaginal discharge, sometimes with a bad odor. As the infection spreads, pain in the lower abdomen becomes increasingly severe and may be accompanied by a low-grade fever (usually below 102° F 38.9° C) and nausea or vomiting. Later, the fever may become higher, and the discharge often becomes purulent and yellow-green. Women may have pain during sexual intercourse or urination. The infection may be severe but cause mild or no symptoms. Symptoms due to gonorrhea tend to be more severe than those of a chlamydial infection, which may not produce a discharge or any other noticeable symptoms.

Sometimes infected fallopian tubes become blocked. Blocked fallopian tubes may swell because fluid is trapped. Women may feel pressure or have chronic pain in the lower abdomen. The infection can spread to surrounding structures, including the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity and covers the abdominal organs (causing peritonitis). Peritonitis can cause sudden or gradual severe pain in the entire abdomen.

If infection of the fallopian tubes is due to gonorrhea or a chlamydial infection, it may spread to the tissues around the liver. Such an infection may cause pain in the upper right side of the abdomen. The pain resembles that of a gallbladder disorder or stones. This complication is called the Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome.

An abscess forms in the fallopian tubes or ovaries of about 15% of women who have infected fallopian tubes, particularly if they have had the infection a long time. An abscess sometimes ruptures, and pus spills into the pelvic cavity (causing peritonitis). A rupture causes severe pain in the lower abdomen, quickly followed by nausea, vomiting, and very low blood pressure (shock). The infection may spread to the bloodstream (a condition called sepsis) and can be fatal.

Pelvic inflammatory disease often produces a puslike fluid, which can result in formation of abnormal bands of scar tissue (adhesions) in the reproductive organs or between organs in the abdomen. Infertility and chronic pelvic pain may result. The longer and more severe the inflammation and the more often it recurs, the higher the risk of infertility and other complications. The risk increases each time a woman develops the infection. Women who have had pelvic inflammatory disease are 6 to 10 times more likely to have a tubal pregnancy, in which the fetus grows in a fallopian tube rather than in the uterus. This type of pregnancy threatens the life of the woman, and the fetus cannot survive.

Notes:
Merck

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EditText of this page (last edited November 18, 2008)