HIV early symptoms appear in the first year of infection

HIV is a virus that weakens the human immune system. A person who is infected with HIV may experience some initial symptoms that appear first in the first few years. Without treatment these early symptoms can progress to AIDS.

The early stages of HIV infection are quite easily overlooked because sometimes there are no obvious symptoms. Therefore, it is important for everyone to detect HIV symptoms early so they can get the right treatment if needed.

Early symptoms of HIV

HIV will not directly damage your organs. The virus slowly attacks the immune system and weakens it gradually until then your body becomes susceptible to disease, especially infections.

HIV infection generally can take about 2 to 15 years for the symptoms to manifest. In the early stages, HIV symptoms usually begin to appear no later than 1 to 2 months after the virus enters the body. In fact, according to HIV.gov, early stage HIV symptoms can be seen as early as two weeks post-exposure.

The characteristics of HIV at the onset of the virus incubation period generally look similar to the common cold symptoms, which include:

HIV fever (usually higher than normal fever; may even be accompanied by a strong chills sensation.
Headache
HIV patients are constantly exhausted
Swollen lymph nodes
Sore throat
HIV skin rash
Pain in muscles and joints
Mouth sores
Wounds to the sex organs
Frequent night sweats
Diarrhea in HIV patients

However, not everyone will show symptoms of HIV early in the disease. There are some people who have no symptoms at all in the first place even though they are infected. That is why everyone who is at high risk of contracting must undergo an HIV test.

Early symptoms of AIDS

In theory, you can get both HIV and AIDS. However, not all people with HIV will automatically have AIDS at a later date. Most people with HIV can live for years without getting AIDS. On the other hand, if you are diagnosed with AIDS, it is certain that you have HIV infection.

The chances of a person living with HIV contracting AIDS can be wide open if the infection is allowed to continue in the long term without proper treatment. If so, over time the infection will continue to become chronic and progress to AIDS which is the final stage of HIV.

The early symptoms of AIDS that appear can vary in each individual sufferer. Usually, various kinds of serious infections begin to attack people with AIDS because the immune system at this stage is very weak.

Some of the early symptoms of AIDS commonly seen in end-stage HIV sufferers are:

Rapid, unplanned weight loss
Fever that fluctuates or goes away
Excessive sweating due to HIV, especially at night
Feeling very tired even though you are not doing strenuous activities
Prolonged swelling of the lymph nodes (usually the glands in the armpit, groin, or neck)
Diarrhea that lasts for more than a week
Sores occur in the mouth, anus, and genitals
Have pneumonia
Rash or boils that are red, brown, or purplish under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or even the eyelids
Nervous disorders such as memory loss, depression, etc.
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease or pelvic inflammation. This inflammation attacks the female reproductive parts such as the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, and ovaries.
Changes to the menstrual cycle, becoming more frequent or even less frequent, profuse blood loss, or experiencing amenorrhea (no menstruation) for more than 90 days.

HIV infection phases

Each of the symptoms of HIV and AIDS in the early stages can be different or related to the symptoms of an infectious disease suffered by AIDS sufferers.

The initial features of HIV can become more severe as the infection progresses. Types of infectious diseases that are complications of HIV include tuberculosis, herpes simplex, invasive cervical cancer, to encephalopathy.

Early symptoms of HIV will develop into symptoms of AIDS after going through the stages of HIV infection such as:

1. The first phase of HIV

Symptoms of early HIV can last from a few days to several weeks. This short period is called acute infection, primary HIV infection or also known as acute retroviral syndrome.

If you are tested for HIV, you may not read any indication of infection in the test results. This is quite dangerous because people who are actually infected can still spread the virus to other people.

At this stage, most people experience flu-like symptoms. The early HIV symptoms they show are often similar to those of the gastrointestinal or respiratory tract.

2. The second phase of HIV

This is the clinical latency stage or chronic HIV infection. At the time of entering the latent period, people with HIV infection may not feel any symptoms. HIV is still active, but reproduces very slowly. You may not experience any of the early HIV symptoms as the virus develops. This latent period can last a decade or more.

In this latent period, which can last up to ten years, many people do not display any of the early features of HIV. This stage should be watched out for because the virus will continue to grow without realizing it.

Even though they are in a latent period and no symptoms appear, people with HIV can still transmit HIV to other people.

At this stage, the immune system is still able to control viral activity. The immune system cannot eliminate HIV completely but can control HIV infection for a long time.

For those who are not taking medications to control symptoms and progression of the infection, this latent period can last for 10 years or more but can also be shorter.

Meanwhile, those who regularly take the drug can survive in a latent period of up to several decades.

In addition, those who regularly took drugs and had very low levels of the virus in their blood were less likely to transmit HIV than those who did not take the drugs.

3. The last phase of HIV

The last phase of HIV is AIDS. In this final phase, HIV infection in the body causes the immune system to become severely damaged and susceptible to opportunistic infections. Opportunistic infections are infections that attack people with poor immune systems.

When HIV has progressed to AIDS, the initial symptoms of HIV AIDS such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and new fever can be seen. In addition, the early symptoms of HIV AIDS such as weight loss, nail infections, headaches and frequent sweating during the day also mark the early stages of AIDS.

How important is having an HIV test?

Diagnosis of HIV and AIDS itself cannot be made just by observing the symptoms of HIV and AIDS, it needs further tests to determine whether a person really has HIV / AIDS or not.

If these early symptoms of HIV and AIDS happen to you, don't panic, consult a doctor, especially if you are in a group that is vulnerable to HIV and AIDS.

Applying for an HIV test is very important because a person who is infected with HIV, but does not show any early HIV symptoms and does not realize that he or she is infected. This person will easily pass the virus on to other people. For example, through blood and saliva.

Having an HIV blood test and testing for other venereal diseases is the only way to determine whether you are positive or not. If you are at risk of infection, especially until you experience the initial symptoms of HIV after being infected, get tested to protect yourself and others from sexually transmitted diseases.

Being diagnosed with HIV is not a "death sentence"

HIV sufferers need treatment with antiretroviral (ARV) to reduce the amount of HIV virus in the body so that it does not enter the final phase, namely AIDS. HIV drugs given early in the infection can control it to slow down the progress of the virus.

Apart from controlling the initial symptoms of HIV, this treatment is proven to have a role in HIV prevention because it stops the replication of the virus which gradually decreases the amount of virus in the blood.

It is also important to realize that the reduction in viral load with ARV therapy must be accompanied by a change in behavior to remain at risk. For example, controlling sexual behavior and stopping the use of needles and condom use at the same time.

If you or someone closest to you has HIV and experiences early symptoms, consult a doctor immediately. You don't need to panic when the initial symptoms of HIV appear because with early detection and treatment of ARVs, the HIV virus can still be controlled.