HIV is a life-threatening, blood-borne illness caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. The last stage of this infection is named AIDS. Many patients never reach this stage, but for those who develop full-blown AIDS, it usually takes about a decade after the virus enters their body. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, roughly 1.2 million patients are living with HIV in the United States today and approximately 40,000 new people get diagnosed with this virus every year. According to Body.com, most patients get diagnosed with HIV before they reach the first stage of AIDS.
Opportunistic Infections
After the HIV virus enters the body, it begins to destroy the patient's white cells, or CD4s. These cells are needed to fight off infections. According to the CDC, once the number of the CD4 lymphocyte count drops below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood, a person can officially be diagnosed with AIDS. During the first AIDS stage, the patient begins to suffer from so-called opportunistic infections. These are the kinds of infections and conditions that a healthy person does not usually suffer from because his immune system can easily fight them off. Some of the common examples of opportunistic infections include toxoplasmosis, herpes simplex viruses, pneumocystis pneumonia, tuberculosis and malaria.
AIDS Dementia
AIDS also causes rapid deterioration in person's cognitive abilities, states Body.com. The patient has difficulty remembering things that he learned a long time ago, or he might have a hard time learning new information. Such cognitive symptoms are referred to as AIDS dementia. In this neurological disorder, the cells infected with HIV virus secrete toxins that disable memory, learning, as well as motor and speech functions.
Other Symptoms
Besides opportunistic infections, patients also get other AIDS symptoms. Some of the common symptoms include high fever of over 100 Fahrenheit that can last for several week at a time, sweating during most nights, chronically swollen lymph nodes, rapid weight loss, chronic diarrhea, dry cough and estreme fatigue.
