Many diseases and infections are associated with HIV/AIDS. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, swollen glands and flu-like symptoms are among the first signs of HIV infection. Over time, HIV kills or damages the body's immune system cells, which allows opportunistic infections and certain cancers to manifest. The NIH states that, although there is no cure for HIV infection, a person can live with the disease for many years.
Histoplasmosis
Histoplasmosis is a disease associated with HIV/AIDS caused by a fungus found in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in the United States and in South and Latin America. According to the University of California-San Francisco, or UCSF, histoplasmosis affects 2 to 5 percent of HIV-positive individuals in the United States. In other parts of the world, histoplasmosis infection is endemic. The UCSF states that histoplasmosis typically affects a person's lungs, although other organs may be involved, too.
Common signs and symptoms of histoplasmosis include fever, weight loss, respiratory or breathing distress, enlarged liver, spleen or lymph nodes, reduced white and red blood cell production, decreased platelet production and dangerously low blood pressure. According to the UCSF, the introduction of antiretroviral therapy may be responsible for the decline in the incidence of histoplasmosis among people with HIV/AIDS.
Cytomegalovirus
Cytomegalovirus is another disease associated with HIV/AIDS. The University of Utah Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library states that cytomegalovirus is the most common opportunistic infection among people with HIV/AIDS. Cytomegalovirus can cause significant health problems throughout the body, including the lungs, brain and gastrointestinal tract. Another common target for this virus is the eye's retina, where it can cause blurry vision and even blindness.
Possible symptoms associated with cytomegalovirus in immunocompromised individuals include chronic diarrhea, fever, stomach pain, pneumonia, liver infection and anemia. Almost everybody has been exposed to cytomegalovirus by the time they are adults, although the virus rarely makes healthy individuals ill. In addition to people with HIV/AIDS, cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and people who have received a new organ have a greater risk for active cytomegalovirus.
Recurrent Pneumonia
Recurrent bacterial pneumonia is a disease associated with HIV/AIDS. According to MayoClinic.com, pneumonia is an inflammation of the lungs often caused by bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infection. Pneumonia can range in severity from mild to life-threatening. People with HIV/AIDS have a greater risk for recurrent bacterial pneumonia.
Common signs and symptoms associated with pneumonia include: fever, cough, dyspnea, or shortness of breath, sweating and chills, chest pain that's associated with breathing, headache, muscle pain and fatigue. MayoClinic.com notes that a person with a weaker immune system, such as a person with HIV/AIDS, may actually experience fewer or milder symptoms than other people. Recurrent bacterial pneumonia often manifests in a person with HIV/AIDS when his CD4+ T cell count drops below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood.
