Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the final stage of HIV infection. Discovered in the early 1980s, AIDS is a disease that reduces the effectiveness of the immune system. AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death among people age 25 to 45, the National Institutes of Health states. Approximately 40 million people worldwide are living with the AIDS virus and about 25 million worldwide have died from AIDS. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can be contracted during sex with an infected individual, sharing hypodermic needles with an infected individual, during blood transfusions or from a mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. Treatments exist that can slow the progression of disease.
Early Symptoms
Two to four weeks after exposure to the human immunodeficiency virus, individuals experience symptoms of fever, chills, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, sore throat, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes. These symptoms last up to four weeks and then subside, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) states. Many individuals infected may not know they have been exposed to the virus because they mistakenly assume their symptoms are from having the flu.
Latent Phase Symptoms
After being exposed to HIV and having an initial onset of symptoms, individuals may be symptom free for up to 10 years, although the virus is multiplying and slowly killing the immune system. During this asymptomatic stage, an infected individual can spread the virus to other individuals.
Late Symptoms
Eight to 10 years after the initial exposure to HIV, an individual with the virus will start to show symptoms that the function of the immune system is deteriorating. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, excessive fatigue, weight loss, frequent fevers, night sweats, chronic diarrhea, thrush, genital sores, bone pain, blurred vision and joint stiffness. When an infected individual's T-cells have dropped below 200 or they have had at least one opportunistic infection, HIV has progressed to AIDS. Examples of opportunistic infections include tuberculosis, pneumocystitis jirovecii pneumonia, Kaposi's sarcoma, cytomegolavirus, varicella zoster and herpes simplex.
