More than a quarter million Americans are infected with HIV and unaware of it, according to the Centers for Disease Control. One reason for that is people infected with HIV may remain relatively symptom-free for 10 years or more after infection. There is an important exception. Shortly after being infected with HIV, a substantial number of people experience a flu-like illness. They often mistake the symptoms for a less serious sickness, such as mononucleosis or influenza, according to the National Institutes of Health. The symptoms disappear, and then, often years later, a persistent set of advanced symptoms may surface, indicating that HIV is progressing to full-blown AIDS.
Earliest symptoms
While many people develop no symptoms right after being infected with HIV, 50 to 70 percent of people are hit with a flu-like illness weeks after infection. It's sometimes called acute HIV syndrome.
The most common symptom is a fever, followed by fatigue, rash, headache and enlarged lymph nodes in the neck and groin area. The symptoms may last several months, but they usually disappear in less than two weeks. If the patient tests positive for HIV, there is the possibility of treating the disease at a very early stage.
Advanced symptoms
After the initial flu-like symptoms disappear, a person may remain symptom-free for 10 to 15 years. But during that time, HIV is at work, destroying the immune system. Another set of symptoms surface, and usually persist. They include rapid weight loss, recurring fever or profuse night sweats, extreme fatigue, prolonged swelling of the lymph glands in the armpits, groin or neck or diarrhea that lasts for more than a week. Other symptoms are sores on the mouth, anus or genitals, pneumonia and red, brown, pink or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose or eyelids. Memory loss, depression and other neurological disorders are also possible.
AIDS symptoms
Advanced symptoms of HIV infection are similar to those caused by full-blown AIDS, but they really signal that the body is making the transition to AIDS. That's why it's important to get treated early, to prevent the transition. At the advanced stage of HIV infection, there are no signs or symptoms of full-blown AIDS, such as opportunistic infections, certain cancers, or a CD4 count of less than 200.
