Last Updated on July 29, 2021 by Nancy Carteron, MD, FACR
STI Symptoms – HIV
Most people who have HIV do not know that they have the infection and have no signs and symptoms at all.
About half of people who contract HIV experience flu-like symptoms within a few weeks after infection. Then there are usually no HIV symptoms for many years. That is why it can be hard to know if you have HIV.
If an initial immune reaction to HIV occurs, it usually takes place between 1 and 6 weeks after HIV infection has happened.
A person with HIV may look healthy and feel good, but they can still pass the virus, especially during the initial infection period.
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The only way to determine whether HIV is present in a person’s body is by testing.
Common early symptoms of HIV infection are sometimes called sero-conversion illness. These symptoms may last for only a few weeks and may include:
- Aching muscles or joints
- Enlarged lymph nodes
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Headaches
- Joint pains
- Mouth or throat ulcers
- Skin rash
- Sore throat
- Swollen glands in the throat, armpit, or groin
Some common chronic symptoms include:
- Night sweats
- Loss of appetitie
- Constant diarrhea
- Recurring yeast infections
- Weight loss
HIV Symptoms are Often Non-Specific
Some people are first diagnosed with HIV when they become ill due to their immune system becoming weakened. Because HIV symptoms are often non-specific, HIV infection may not be suspected unless:
- Symptoms fail to go away with time
- Other possible causes have been disqualified
- A person can be at higher risk of HIV infection because of past sexual behavior or injection drug use (often going back many years)
- A person is diagnosed with an “opportunistic” illness, which is an illness that points to a weakened immune system
People can have HIV for 10 years or more and never show any symptoms and for the reasons mentioned above, symptoms alone cannot identify an HIV infection.
Testing is the only way to confirm if a person has HIV.
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References
- Symptoms
- Earnshaw, Valerie A., et al. “HIV stigma and physical health symptoms: Do social support, adaptive coping, and/or identity centrality act as resilience resources?.” AIDS and Behavior 19.1 (2015): 41-49.
- Lyon, Maureen E., et al. “Advance care planning and HIV symptoms in adolescence.” Pediatrics 142.5 (2018): e20173869.
- Garey, Lorra, et al. “Anxiety, depression, and HIV symptoms among persons living with HIV/AIDS: the role of hazardous drinking.” AIDS care 27.1 (2015): 80-85.
- Webel, Allison R., et al. “A cross-sectional relationship between social capital, self-compassion, and perceived HIV symptoms.” Journal of pain and symptom management 50.1 (2015): 59-68.
- Braksmajer, Amy, et al. “Effects of Discrimination on HIV-Related Symptoms in Heterosexual Men of Color.” American journal of men’s health 12.6 (2018): 1855-1863.
- Testing
- World Health Organization. Guidelines on HIV self-testing and partner notification: supplement to consolidated guidelines on HIV testing services. World Health Organization, 2016.
- Arya, Monisha, et al. “The Promise of Patient-Centered Text Messages for Encouraging HIV Testing in an Underserved Population.” The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care: JANAC 29.1 (2018): 101-106.
- Greensides, Dawn R., et al. “Alternative HIV testing methods among populations at high risk for HIV infection.” Public health reports (2016).
- Granich, Reuben M., et al. “Universal voluntary HIV testing with immediate antiretroviral therapy as a strategy for elimination of HIV transmission: a mathematical model.” The Lancet 373.9657 (2009): 48-57.
- Kalichman, Seth C., and Leickness C. Simbayi. “HIV testing attitudes, AIDS stigma, and voluntary HIV counselling and testing in a black township in Cape Town, South Africa.” Sexually transmitted infections 79.6 (2003): 442-447.
- Treatment
- Cihlar, Tomas, and Marshall Fordyce. “Current status and prospects of HIV treatment.” Current opinion in virology 18 (2016): 50-56.
- Gonzalez, Jeffrey S., et al. “Depression and HIV/AIDS treatment nonadherence: a review and meta-analysis.” Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) 58.2 (2011).
- Callaghan, Mike, Nathan Ford, and Helen Schneider. “A systematic review of task-shifting for HIV treatment and care in Africa.” Human resources for health 8.1 (2010): 8.
- Benjamin, Laura A., et al. “HIV, antiretroviral treatment, hypertension, and stroke in Malawian adults: a case-control study.” Neurology 86.4 (2016): 324-333.
- Levi, Jacob, et al. “Can the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target be achieved? A systematic analysis of national HIV treatment cascades.” BMJ global health 1.2 (2016): e000010.
- Prevention
- Cohen, Myron S., et al. “Antiretroviral therapy for the prevention of HIV-1 transmission.” New England Journal of Medicine 375.9 (2016): 830-839.
- World Health Organization. Policy brief: Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations. No. WHO/HIV/2017.05. World Health Organization, 2017.
- Baeten, Jared M., et al. “Use of a vaginal ring containing dapivirine for HIV-1 prevention in women.” New England Journal of Medicine 375.22 (2016): 2121-2132.
- Fowler, Mary G., et al. “Benefits and risks of antiretroviral therapy for perinatal HIV prevention.” New England Journal of Medicine 375.18 (2016): 1726-1737.
- World Health Organization. “Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations–2016 update.” (2016).
- Transmission
- Rodger, Alison J., et al. “Sexual activity without condoms and risk of HIV transmission in serodifferent couples when the HIV-positive partner is using suppressive antiretroviral therapy.” Jama 316.2 (2016): 171-181.
- Landefeld, C. C., et al. “Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Yaounde: Barrier to Care.” AIDS care 30.1 (2018): 116-120.
- Zafer, Maryam, et al. “Effectiveness of semen washing to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission and assist pregnancy in HIV-discordant couples: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Fertility and sterility 105.3 (2016): 645-655.
- Cohen, Myron S., et al. “Antiretroviral therapy for the prevention of HIV-1 transmission.” New England Journal of Medicine 375.9 (2016): 830-839.
- Poon, Art FY, et al. “Near real-time monitoring of HIV transmission hotspots from routine HIV genotyping: an implementation case study.” The lancet HIV 3.5 (2016): e231-e238.
