initial symptoms of AIDS

Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
Updated on December 26, 2024
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People infected with HIV may experience a series of symptoms in the early stages of the disease, about two to three weeks after being infected with the virus. At this time, due to the virus's rapid growth and reproduction in the body, symptoms such as viral viremia can occur, including rash, fever, sore throat, and swelling of lymph nodes throughout the body. These symptoms are reversible and can subside after one to two weeks. Many people infected with HIV may not show any symptoms. The diagnosis of HIV is mainly confirmed through tests such as HIV antibodies, and it is not possible to infer HIV infection based merely on external symptoms.

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Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
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What are the body fluid transmissions of AIDS?

Actually, it is quite difficult for the HIV virus to be transmitted through bodily fluids because the HIV virus mainly exists in the blood, semen, vaginal secretions, cervical mucus, breast milk, as well as amniotic fluid, ascites, and pleural effusion of those infected with HIV. Other body fluids, such as sweat, urine, tears, and feces, generally do not contain the virus or contain it in extremely minute amounts, and are unlikely to facilitate transmission. AIDS is primarily transmitted through sexual contact, blood transmission, and from mother to child, and is not transmitted through ordinary contact.

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Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
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AIDS blood transmission conditions

Actually, the transmission of AIDS requires two conditions to be met simultaneously: first, a sufficient number of active HIV viruses are needed. Second, these sufficient and active HIV viruses must enter fresh blood or a fresh wound. Only when both of these conditions are met, is there a possibility of infection, but it is not a 100% certainty. For example, in the case of needle stick injuries involving needles contaminated with HIV-positive blood, the risk of infecting healthcare workers is about 0.3%.

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Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
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How is AIDS treated?

For the treatment of AIDS, antiretroviral therapy is required. It is important to diagnose and treat early, and patients should consistently adhere to treatment over the long term. Most patients can achieve relatively good results. If the virus levels remain undetectable over the long term, the immune system can recover to a normal state, and opportunistic infections will either not occur or previously occurred ones will gradually disappear. Standard antiretroviral therapy is critical, primarily involving a cocktail therapy that usually combines three different types of antiretroviral drugs.

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Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
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How long does it take to detect HIV?

Actually, the diagnosis of AIDS is mainly through the testing of AIDS antibodies or AIDS nucleic acids, and the antibody test for AIDS needs to be conducted after the window period. Generally, the window period for AIDS is about four weeks, and the test for AIDS antibodies or AIDS nucleic acids should be conducted after four weeks. If the result is positive, then it can be diagnosed. Further confirmation experiments at the disease control center are needed if the AIDS confirmation test is positive to diagnose AIDS. Once diagnosed with AIDS, treatment against the AIDS virus is required.

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Written by Xie Ming Feng
Dermatology
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Is late-stage AIDS painful?

In the late stages of AIDS, human immune function is severely deficient, with all tissues and organs of the body being compromised, accompanied by multiple and various opportunistic infections and the occurrence of malignant tumors. This leads to symptoms such as skin itching, muscle pain, fever, diarrhea, and weight loss. If the nervous system is affected, dementia, loss of discriminative ability, or motor dysfunction may occur. Therefore, the late stages are quite painful.