Timeline of HIV Signs

2 to 4 Weeks After Publicity

Generally known as acute retroviral syndrome, or ARS, the acute stage happens instantly after being contaminated, when the immune system has but to manage the virus. Throughout this time, about two-thirds of individuals will expertise gentle to average flu-like signs, whereas the remainder received’t expertise any signs in any respect, notes HIV.gov.

Though these indicators usually seem inside two to 4 weeks of publicity, they will additionally happen inside as little as three days. Round 30 p.c of individuals with ARS will develop a generalized rash of pink to crimson bumps, often on the higher half of the physique. The rash will generally steadily converge into bigger, raised hives.

Per HIV.gov, different frequent ARS signs embody:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Muscle aches
• Joint ache
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Evening sweats
• Nausea
• Diarrhea

The typical period of ARS signs is 14 days.

3 to 4 Weeks After Publicity

By across the third or fourth week, the virus will start to cease multiplying quickly, based on the College of Washington–led Nationwide HIV Curriculum. Though some folks can expertise ARS signs for as much as three months, most individuals will begin feeling higher inside two weeks, because the immune system steadily brings the an infection beneath management.

The exception: a symptom known as lymphadenopathy, the generally painful swelling of lymph nodes in areas of the physique, such because the neck, armpits, or groin area. Even when the opposite signs have disappeared, lymphadenopathy could proceed for months and even longer.

And usually, the shortage of signs in some folks or the seeming decision of early-stage signs doesn’t imply that the HIV an infection is gone, because the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention notes: HIV is an ongoing situation that requires constant, common remedy.

4 Weeks After Publicity

The persistent stage of an infection happens as soon as the immune system brings the virus beneath management. Throughout this part, HIV will go into hiding, the place it resides in numerous cells and tissues all through the physique in a dormant state often called latency, based on HIV.gov. HIV latency can persist with out signs for 10 years or extra, though some folks could expertise indicators inside a yr or two.

Throughout the early persistent part, lymphadenopathy could be the solely notable signal of an HIV an infection. In some instances, the glands could also be visibly enlarged and attain as much as an inch or extra in measurement. If the situation persists for greater than three months, it’s known as persistent generalized lymphadenopathy (PGL), notes HIV.gov.

Even throughout latency, the virus will a number of imperceptibly and steadily deplete immune cells often called CD4 T-cells. As immune deficiency develops, plenty of nonspecific signs are prone to seem, together with:

• Oral candidiasis (thrush), a fungal an infection that causes the formation of creamy, white patches on the edges of the tongue and lining of the mouth
• Unexplained fevers or weight reduction
• Extreme, uncontrolled diarrhea that lasts for greater than three days

These signs are generally seen in folks with immune deficiency. Except for thrush, they might, in some instances, be brought on by HIV itself or by an an infection that has but to be recognized.

Later-Stage HIV and AIDS

If left untreated, HIV will virtually invariably result in symptomatic illness. There is no such thing as a timeline or sample as to when this would possibly happen. Typically talking, the decrease an individual’s immune well being (as measured by the CD4 rely), the better the danger of sure diseases, based on MedlinePlus. Medical consultants refer to those diseases as “opportunistic” as a result of they happen solely when an individual’s immune defenses are down.

At a sure level, if nonetheless untreated, the depletion of CD4 T-cells can result in a stage of illness known as AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. That is when probably the most critical opportunistic infections are inclined to happen. AIDS is formally outlined as both having a CD4 rely beneath 200 or the presence of a minimum of one in all over 25 completely different AIDS-defining circumstances, notes StatPearls.

Signs in later-stage HIV and AIDS embody viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections in addition to cancers like invasive cervical most cancers and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. These infections have an effect on the organs and different areas of the physique, per HIV.gov, together with: