AIDS or HIV infection is a dangerous disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. It is characterized, first of all, by a defeat of the patient’s immune system and various clinical manifestations (tumor-like processes and opportunistic diseases). The cause of this disease is retroviruses, today only two of them are well studied, these are HIV-1 and HIV-2. In nature, there are several more variants of this pathogen, but there is no reliable information about what they are and how they behave in relation to the human body.
What is HIV ?
The first sign of this infection can be determined by the presence of a retrovirus in the blood. Retroviruses are characterized by pronounced lymphotropy, namely, preference for lymphocytes, cells of the immune system. HIV has high variability - 1 gene more than 1,000 mutations, which is many times greater than the influenza virus. The causative agent of HIV infection is found in T-lymphocytes and in other organs and tissues of the human body (macrophages, monocytes, Langerhans cells, megakaryocytes, eosinophils, neurons, intestinal epithelial cells). The virus is also found in blood, semen, saliva, breast milk of HIV-infected mothers, and tear fluid.
HIV The first sign of infection.
The duration of the incubation period for HIV infection can be from 4-6 months to 4 or more years; information on the incubation period of 15 years is found in the literature. So, how can we suspect human infection with HIV for the first time? The first signs of infection can occur in the form of lymphadenopathy and fever (elevated body temperature), such symptoms develop within 5-6 weeks after infection. It is customary to distinguish an average period between the appearance of specific antibodies in the blood and the development of the first signs of AIDS, this period can be 7-10 years.
The first signs of HIV infection in men and women
Modern authors identify 9 symptoms of HIV infection, the first sign of which you can not even notice and miss.
- Dramatic weight loss (for 6 months by 10% or more);
- Fever lasting more than one month;
- Chronic diarrhea for more than one month;
- Generalized pruritic dermatitis;
- Persistent cough;
- Recurrent herpes zoster;
- Oropharyngeal candidiasis;
- Herpes simplex or recurrent;
- Generalized lymphadenopathy.
What should I look for?
In some patients with suspected HIV, the first sign may be expressed in neurological symptoms: eye pain, photophobia, headache, signs of peripheral neuropathy and meningoencephalitis. This means that an early damage to the nervous system has begun. In some cases, a rash on the body of a spotty character like rubella or measles, hair loss, ulcers on the mucous membranes may appear. Very often, the acute stage of HIV infection is confused with mononucleosis, cytomegalovirus infection, toxoplasmosis, rubella, and other infections. However, acute HIV infection is more likely to have an acute onset, unlike some forms of infectious mononucleosis, with ulceration and mild tonsil damage.
The first signs of HIV infection - this is not a sentence!
In any case, the first signs of HIV infection in women and men indicate a problem in the human body, they should be the first signal that the patient will have to undergo an additional examination. However, the presence of several signs is not at all an approach for making such a serious diagnosis as AIDS. To make such a diagnosis, the patient will be asked to undergo a special test, which is carried out both openly and anonymously, and only after a few confirmed tests will the diagnosis be made. Do not forget that early diagnosis of the disease is one of the most important anti-epidemic measures, and timely antiviral therapy can significantly delay or prevent the development of AIDS.