People overlook cold and flu symptoms until they realize that they are infected with HIV AIDS. Like other serious illnesses such as COVID-19, Pneumonia, and many more, HIV AIDS takes time to progress. Your body gives quite a fight until what started small becomes chronic. Your body might not show dramatic signs like what commonly appears in movies, but common illnesses might signify bigger things. At your critical point in life, you might be upset that only if you had known early HIV symptoms sooner, you could have arranged proper medical treatment. That you can evade the worst outcome before your HIV level advances to the deadly AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
Key fact: Although not curable, we can prevent HIV before it expands to AIDS by antiretroviral therapy. It reduces the infection and allows you to live with a normal life span like the people around you.
Puri Medical Clinic in Bali reveals everything you need to know about early HIV symptoms, in the following.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus – What Happens to Our Body When We Catch It
As the name describes, HIV is a form of a virus that attacks your immune system. Our immune system comprises our organs, cells, and proteins that work together in keeping us away from outside invaders including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other toxic microbes. Without it, your body will find it hard to fight the infection so you don’t stand a chance of fighting against the sicknesses.
According to a report from UNAIDS in 2020, people died from illnesses related to AIDS amount to 680.000 [480 000–1 million] worldwide.
Your white blood cells play a major role in protecting your body. However, with HIV intending to destroy your body shield so hard, it can make you vulnerable to complications. It requires years for HIV infection to develop into AIDS. Infection, at first, might be difficult to detect at first, since the early HIV symptoms are not quite noticeable. HIV comes in three phases that we can explain further below.
Phase 1: Early HIV Symptoms You Should Look out for
The first phase occurs after 1-4 weeks of HIV infection, at this point, the sufferers will show flu-like symptoms that might last up to 2 weeks, such as:
- Ulcer
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Sore throat
- Loss of appetite
- Muscle ache
- Rash
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Sweating
The symptoms indicate your body’s immune system is striving to ward off the virus.
Phase 2: Latency Period
After a 6-week HIV infection, your body does not exhibit any horrible symptoms. Actually, those with HIV feel fit and healthy but quietly does the virus expand more and more to invade your white blood cells. Because positive-HIV persons do not see anything wrong with themselves, they might have sexual encounters with their partners and without realizing their HIV status, their partners are at a high risk of getting infected. As your white blood cells are slowly getting lesser than normal, severe symptoms are starting to make their appearance. Sufferers that receive no therapy and treatment can remain in this phase until around 10 years.
Phase 3: Chronic AIDS
It is the hardest hit in HIV phases. The miserable reduction of leucocyte or white blood cells causes the body to lose its capacity to handle the virus. At the end phase, your body weight decreases drastically. You experience fatigue, diarrhea, and swollen lymph nodes.
Because of your extremely poor immune system, your body is prone to complications from other kinds of infections and certain kinds of cancer.
- Fungal infections of the mouth and throat
- Pneumonia
- Toxoplasmosis
- Meningitis
- Tuberculosis (TB)
- Cancers, such as lymphoma and Kaposi’s sarcoma
Knowing the Early Symptoms of HIV and Receiving Treatment ASAP Save Life
Our concern is many people with HIV fear seeking medical care for they are ashamed of their condition and be discriminated against by the community. The consequence will be fatal in the long run especially when they are involved in free sex and drug use, they might spread the virus to others. To avoid catching HIV/AIDS, keep in mind to:
- Practice safe sex
- Avoid having multiple sex partners and sharing sex toys
- Do not have direct contact with people’s body fluids that might come from sex or scar
- Use your own toothbrush, razor blades, etc
- Follow attentively the scheduled therapy sessions and carry out regular HIV testing
Read More: Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Testing and Treatment
We hope you stay safe and please do not bother to care about what others think about you if you are indeed contracting HIV. Focus on your recovery and do note that there are more helps out there than you ever thought about. Find communities to rely on the support and know that there is a governing law that protects your human rights in case you feel helpless fighting your own war.
Remember, Puri Medical Clinic in Bali is here for you to assist you whenever you need us. We are only one call away at +(62)-823-4085-0485.
