Acute HIV

Acute HIV infection

is the first stage of HIV infection. It is also described as Acute seroconversion syndrome. It is a primary infection of the disease. It takes place after incubation stage, before the latency stage and the possible AIDS follows the latency stage.

Causes of Acute HIV infection

Acute HIV infection takes 2-4 weeks for developing. It occurs after the infection of HIV. The virus is transmitted by

• Blood products and Contaminated blood transfusions
• Use of contaminated needles and syringes with injection drugs
• Sexual contact
• Breastfeeding

After someone gets infected with HIV, blood tests can detect antibodies in the virus. It occurs even if they had no signs of infection. This is termed as HIV seroconversion (conversion of HIV negative to HIV positive.) It normally occurs within three months of exposure. But in rare occasion it can be delayed up to a year after infection. It may happen that in spite of having initial infection there might not be no further confirmation of sickness for the next ten years. The stage is described as an asymptomatic HIV infection.

Acute HIV infection can develop to early symptomatic HIV infection and later on to advanced HIV disease (AIDS). However it does not always progress to early symptomatic HIV infection. But the bulk of people do eventually develop AIDS.

A large number of cells are destroyed when the level of active HIV increases. It creates a dramatic decrease in CD4 cells, count and as a result of this the immune system gets damaged severely. Hence, the symptoms of acute HIV syndrome may become visible or appear. Fever is the most general symptom and others like fever, throat, rash, muscle and joint aches, sore, fatigue, headache, weight loss and diarrhea. These symptoms may appear including the fever that is most general symptom. As these symptoms are common in other viral illness such as influenza or mononucleosis, the diagnosis more often is not clear and the patient is unaware of the fact that he/she is infected with acute HIV syndrome. Typically the symptoms of acute HIV syndrome can appear within five to thirty days after the initial infection if the disease. It can last for several weeks.

Is it important to getting identified with acute HIV?

The answer is yes as it plays an important role for resisting the disease to develop further. The early diagnosis provides an opportunity to the infected person to be counseled and get a proper treatment to avoid the further infection. An early medical intervention is essential as it allows an infected person to keep himself/herself updated for the further treatment for the disease throughout the lifetime.

Moreover, it provides a brief opportunity to control the disease and spreading it out throughout the body of a person. The acute HIV infection greatly affects the immune system. One of the schools has stated that an early medical intervention can limit the initial spread of the disease in the body and can allow the immune system to be healthier for longer period of time.

Acute HIV infection is primary stage after having initial infection of HIV.