The symptoms of HIV are quite difficult to identify and, therefore, the best way to confirm the contagion with the virus is to be tested for HIV in the hospital or in an HIV counseling center, especially if any behavior has occurred. risk such as having sex without a condom or having shared syringes.
However, in some people the virus can cause symptoms similar to those of the flu, which arise about 2 weeks after contact with the virus. These symptoms may include:
- Headache;
- Low fever;
- Excessive fatigue;
- Swollen glands;
- Sore throat;
- Joint pain;
- Canker sores in the mouth;
- Night sweats;
- Diarrhea.
Generally, these symptoms improve in a maximum of 2 months and, therefore, end up being confused with a flu. However, even if the symptoms have disappeared, it does not mean that the virus has been eliminated but that it is “asleep” in the body. See how HIV is spread.
This phase without symptoms can last up to 10 years and, during this period, the virus continues to develop silently in the body, affecting the functioning of the immune system and eventually developing AIDS.
First, HIV must be diagnosed during this phase, before developing AIDS, because the virus is still in low concentration in the body, being easier to control their development with drugs. In addition to this, early diagnosis also prevents the virus from being transmitted to other people, since that moment you should not have sex without a condom again.
Symptoms of AIDS
After about 10 years without presenting any type of symptom, HIV can develop a syndrome known as AIDS, which is characterized by a weakening of the immune system. When this happens the first symptoms of AIDS are:
- Persistent high fever;
- Prolonged dry cough;
- Frequent night sweats;
- Edema of the lymph nodes for more than 3 months;
- Headache;
- Pain in the whole body;
- Easy fatigue;
- Rapid weight loss;
- White spots on the tongue and mouth which is associated with frequent oral candidiasis;
- Diarrhea for more than 1 month;
- Red spots or small skin eruptions, scientifically called Kaposi’s sarcoma.
In this phase, it is also frequent that the person suffers with frequent infections such as tonsillitis, candidiasis and even pneumonia and, therefore, the doctor can think about the diagnosis of HIV when many infections follow in a row.
When AIDS has already been developed it is much more difficult to try to control the progress of the disease with medicines and, for this reason, many patients with the syndrome end up staying hospitalized to avoid and treat the infections that arise.
How the treatment of AIDS is done
The treatment of AIDS is made with a cocktail of antiviral drugs that are normally offered free of charge by the government, and may include the following medications: Etravirine, Tipranavir, Tenofovir, Lamivudine, Efavirenz.
They fight the virus, increasing the quantity and quality of the defense cells of the individual. But for them to have the expected effect, it is necessary for the individual to follow the doctor’s guidelines and use condoms in all relationships, to avoid spreading to other people and help control the epidemic of the disease. Learn more about the treatment of the disease in: Treatment of AIDS.
The use of condoms is important even in sexual relationships with couples already infected with the AIDS virus. This care is important, since there are several types of AIDS virus and couples could be infected again, but with a different type of virus, making it difficult to treat the disease.
What is AIDS?
AIDS is a disease caused by the HIV virus that weakens the immune system, leaving the individual weak and prone to diseases that would be easy to treat.
After the virus enters the body, the defense cells try to prevent its action and, when it seems that they will achieve it, the virus changes shape and the body needs to make other defense cells capable of blocking it.
When there is a small amount of HIV virus in the body and a good amount of defense cells, the individual remains in the asymptomatic phase of the disease, which can last for many years. However, when the amount of virus in the body is much greater than their defense cells, the main symptoms of AIDS arise, as the body is more weakened and fails to stop diseases that would be easy to resolve.
Therefore, the best way to treat AIDS is to avoid getting infected with the virus again, and to correctly take the medication indicated by the doctor.
