AIDS can lay dormant until years after infection,

AIDS can lay dormant until years after infection, and in untreated cases the average time for the disease to develop is 10 years or more.

HIV infection is also associated with an acute illness in most infected persons. This illness, called acute HIV infection begins within 1-3 weeks of exposure, and usually involves a combination of symptoms.

• HIV present in large quantities in genital secretions

• Symptoms are often mistaken for those of other viral infection and are very infectious during this period

• Symptoms may not surface for years after HIV first enters the body in adults, or within 2 years in children born with HIV

Period of asymptomatic infection is highly variable with some people:

• beginning symptoms within a few months

• having no symptoms for 10 years or more

• having symptoms resolve themselves within 1-3 weeks

During the asymptomatic period HIV actively multiplies infecting and killing immune system cells causing:

• A decline in blood levels of CD4+ T cells (T4 cells), the immune system's main infection fighters

• Cells to be disabled or destroyed by the virus without causing symptom