Contents:
- Medical Video: 5 Common Signs of HIV
- Early symptoms of HIV
- Stage I HIV symptoms
- Stage II HIV symptoms
- Stage III HIV symptoms
- Stage IV HIV symptoms
- Will AIDS people die immediately?
Medical Video: 5 Common Signs of HIV
HIV and AIDS is a disease that attacks the human immune system. Many people cannot differentiate between HIV and AIDS, even though these two things are two different diseases. HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a virus that attacks the vital organs of the human immune system, such as T4 CD4 + macrophages and dendritic cells. HIV damages the immune cells directly and indirectly, even though these cells are needed so that the body's immune system can function properly. In this phase, the patient may not show symptoms or show mild symptoms.
Whereas AIDS stands for Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Syndrome means a collection of symptoms and signs of disease. deficiency means lack, immune means immunity, and acquired means obtained or obtained, in this case "acquired" means that AIDS is not a hereditary disease. A person suffers from AIDS not because he is descended from an AIDS sufferer, but because he is infected or infected with the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection.
There are several stages of HIV infection until a person becomes AIDS. WHO divides it according to clinical symptoms and several examination tests conducted by doctors. What are the stages of infection? Let's follow the explanation below.
Early symptoms of HIV
The initial symptoms are symptoms that occur several weeks after a person is exposed to the HIV virus. It usually lasts 3-6 weeks, and occurs for a maximum of 3 months after the virus enters the body in several ways, such as being punctured after being used by an HIV patient or having sex with an HIV patient. Symptoms can be similar to symptoms of flu, namely:
- Fever
- Pain swallowing
- Cough
- Limp and feel unwell
- Diarrhea
- Enlarged lymph nodes
These symptoms last several days, then recover spontaneously even without treatment. At this time, the patient has started to transmit the disease to other people.
Stage I HIV symptoms
Stage 1 is the phase where the initial symptoms have begun to disappear, referred to as asymptomatic HIV infection and not categorized as AIDS. At this stage, people with HIV will look normal, like normal healthy people in general, so many do not realize that they have been infected with the HIV virus. The asymptomatic period can occur for years, it can take 5-10 years depending on the patient's immune system. On average, HIV sufferers will be in this stadium for 7 years.
At this stage, the patient does not show symptoms, and if there are symptoms, only in the form of enlarged lymph nodes in various parts of the patient's body, such as the neck, armpits, and groin folds.
Stage II HIV symptoms
At this stage, the body's resistance has begun to fall. The virus shows its activity in areas that have small mucous membranes. The symptoms are diverse, and still not typical. Usually this happens in patients who have a lifestyle not at high risk and still do not know that they have been infected. As a result, they did not carry out blood tests and automatically did not get early treatment to prevent acceleration into the next stage of HIV infection. Symptoms include:
- Weight loss is less than 10% of the estimated body weight before the disease, which is unknown. People who are not on a diet or medication can lose weight.
- Upper respiratory tract infections that often relapse, such as: sinusitis, bronchitis, inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media), inflammation of the throat (pharyngitis).
- Shingles that recur within 5 years.
- Inflammation of the mouth and stomatitis (canker sores) that recur.
- Itching on the skin (papular pruritic eruption).
- Seborrheic dermatitis characterized by widespread dandruff that suddenly appears.
- Fungal infections of the nails and fingers.
Stage III HIV symptoms
This phase is called symptomatic phase, which has been characterized by symptoms of primary infection. Symptoms that arise in stage III are quite typical so we can lead to suspected diagnosis of HIV / AIDS infection. Patients are usually weak and spend 50% in bed. However, a blood check is needed to make the diagnosis correctly. The time range from stage III to AIDS on average is 3 years. Symptoms in stage III include:
- Weight loss is more than 10% of the estimated previous body weight without a clear cause.
- Chronic diarrhea (diarrhea) which is not clear the cause is more than 1 month.
- Fever that persists or arises for more than 1 month which is not clear why.
- Fungal infections in the mouth (oral candidiasis).
- Oral hairy leukoplakia.
- Pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosed in the last 2 years.
- Inflammation of acute necrotic mouth, gingivitis (inflammation of the gums), periodontitis that recurs and does not go away.
- Blood tests that show a decrease in red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
Stage IV HIV symptoms
This stage is also called stage of AIDS, characterized physically by the appearance of enlarged lymph nodes throughout the body and subsequently several opportunistic infections appear. In general, the condition of the body is very weak with activity in bed above 50%. This phase is the final phase and is usually characterized by a CD4 count of less than 200. Symptoms include:
- HIV wasting syndrome, where the sufferer becomes emaciated and not energetic.
- Pneumocystis pneumonia: dry cough, progressive tightness, fever, and severe fatigue.
- Severe bacterial infections such as lung infections (pneumonia, emphysema, pyomyositis), joint and bone infections and inflammation of the brain (meningitis).
- Chronic herpes simplex infection (more than 1 month).
- Tuberculosis outside the lung, for example glandular tuberculosis.
- Esophageal candidiasis is a fungal infection in the esophagus which makes it very difficult for sufferers to eat.
- Kaposi's sarcoma.
- Cerebral toxoplasmosis is a toxoplasma infection in the brain that can cause abscesses / brain ulcers.
- HIV encephalopathy, a condition in which sufferers have experienced a decline and a change in consciousness.
Will AIDS people die immediately?
The answer is no. The number of CD4 + lymphocytes can be increased and maintained within safe limits. Yes, of course with a healthy way of life, avoid sources of infection and disease, and take ARV drugs regularly.
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