HIV/AIDS

HIV

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Signs and Symptoms

Even if you don't experience HIV symptoms, the virus is actively multiplying, infecting and killing cells of the immune system — CD4+T cells, which are the immune system's key infection fighters. As soon as HIV enters the body, it begins to disable or destroy these cells, often without causing symptoms.

HIV is not spread through casual contact such as sharing food, utensils, towels, bedding, swimming pools, telephones or toilet seats. HIV also is not spread by insects, such as mosquitoes or bedbugs.

HIV can be spread by:

• Blood transfusions with HIV-infected blood. This is rare since all donated blood is tested for HIV.
• HIV-contaminated needles.
• Sexual contact, especially intercourse or anal sex.
• A mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding

In rare instances, HIV can be spread by:

• A bite by someone infected with HIV.
• Blood from an HIV-infected person entering an open wound.
• Sharing personal hygiene items, such as razors and toothbrushes, with a person infected with HIV

Sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, genital herpes, chlamydia or gonorrhea appear to increase the susceptibility of getting HIV during sex with infected partners.

Many people don't have any symptoms when they first become infected with HIV. Some have a flu-like illness, called HIV sero-conversion syndrome, a month or two after exposure to the virus. This illness may cause a variety of symptoms including:

• Diarrhea
• Enlarged liver or spleen
• Fever
• Enlarged or swollen lymph nodes
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• Neurologic symptoms
• Rash on the abdomen, arms and legs and face
• Sore throat
• Thrush, a common fungal infection of the mouth caused by Candida, a yeast-like fungus

These symptoms usually disappear in a week to a month and may be mistaken for other viral infections. During this period, people are very infectious and HIV is present in large quantities in genital fluids.

An infected person may not experience severe symptoms for eight to 10 years or more. This period — called the asymptomatic period — varies in length for each person. Some people may have symptoms within a few months and others may be symptom-free for years.

Children born with HIV usually have symptoms within two years of birth. Children may grow slowly or become sick frequently.

As the immune system weakens, other complications may occur. For many people, the first signs of infection are large lymph nodes or swollen glands that may be enlarged for more than three months. Other symptoms before the onset of AIDS include:

• Fevers and sweats
• Herpes infections that cause severe mouth, genital or anal sores
• Lack of energy
• Pelvic inflammatory disease in women that does not respond to treatment
• Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
• Shingles, a painful nerve disease often accompanied by a rash or blisters
• Short-term memory loss
• Weight loss

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated July 12, 2007