AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is a chronic, life-threatening disease that can develop after infection with HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, HIV destroys CD4+ T cells, which the body needs to fight infections. HIV is spread through exchange of body fluids during unprotected sexual intercourse and sharing needles with infected persons. It can spread to babies during birth from infected mothers. Symptoms may not appear for 10 years.
Asymptomatic HIV Infection
Initially, there are no symptoms as the infection spreads. According to The New York Times Health Guide, this period, the first few weeks to months, is called asymptomatic HIV infection. Most of those who are infected eventually develop some symptoms if left untreated. A small group, called nonprogressors, may develop symptoms very slowly or not at all. Those with no symptoms may look and feel healthy, but are infected and can unknowingly spread the disease.
Acute Retroviral Syndrome
After the initial first few weeks to months following exposure to HIV, flulike symptoms may develop. According to AIDS.gov, higher levels of the virus are circulating in the blood during this time, increasing the chances for infecting others. The flulike symptoms may be mild to severe and include developing fever, chills, night sweats, sore throat and swollen lymph glands. There may also be profound fatigue. These symptoms can easily be mistaken for a particularly bad case of the flu. Not all those who are infected develop flulike symptoms in the first 6 weeks. During this period, an infected person will develop antibodies to the virus, which can be detected through testing.
Latency Period
After the flulike symptoms clear up, many of those infected with HIV go into a latency period with no symptoms. According to AIDS.gov, during this period the virus is less active in the body; however, the person is still infected and capable of spreading the disease to others. This period can last 10 years or longer.
Full Blown AIDS
Those who receive treatment for AIDS typically remain healthier and may not progress to full-blown AIDS. Left untreated, AIDS continues to destroy the immune system over time. According to MayoClinic.com, this leaves an infected person open to opportunistic infections, or infections they wouldn't ordinarily be susceptible to with healthy immune systems, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis. The symptoms for these infections include soaking night sweats, high fever with shaking chills, blurred vision, mouth ulcerations, chronic diarrhea, headaches, persistent cough and overwhelming fatigue.
Wasting Syndrome
Wasting Syndrome is an AIDS-defining condition which occurs late in the course of the disease. According to AIDS.gov, wasting syndrome is characterized by an involuntary loss of 10 percent of body weight and at least 30 days of chronic diarrhea, weakness and fever. According to Drugs.com, later on in the disease process, infected persons are prone to developing certain cancers, particularly Kaposi's sarcoma, lymphoma, and in women, cervical cancer. Very late in the disease, some develop mental confusion and dementia.
