Diagnosis and Treatment for Acute HIV

Diagnosis and Treatment for Acute HIV

As has been mentioned already, primary HIV infection cannot be identified only on the basis of acute HIV symptoms. Moreover, the early HIV symptoms in men and women may not be exhibited by all HIV infected individuals. HIV infection can be identified only with the help of proper diagnostic procedures. However, HIV antibody test may come negative during the primary infection stage, as the immune system usually requires about two months to produce the antibodies against the virus. But, HIV RNA test or 'viral load' test shows a positive result for acute HIV infection. Whether acute HIV infection should be treated immediately with antiretroviral medications, or one should wait until immune system exhibits the signs of damage is still controversial. Therefore, individuals going through the acute HIV infection need to talk to their physician and evaluate the various pros and cons of early treatment.

The early diagnosis of acute HIV infection is of utmost importance to prevent the spread of the virus. However, it is not so easy to detect acute HIV infection, as the symptoms are not very specific and they resemble the symptoms of many other health condition. So, people who think that they are at an increased risk of contracting the virus can get tested for acute HIV infection on observing the above mentioned acute HIV symptoms. This will help to detect the condition and prevent the transmission of the virus to healthy individuals.