If a person had aids, what would be the first symptoms?

Hi,
I am a dcotor..

Hope this would help..

You might not know if you get infected by HIV. Some people get fever, headache, sore muscles and joints, stomach ache, swollen lymph glands, or a skin rash for one or two weeks. Most people think it's the flu. Some people have no symptoms.

The virus will multiply in your body for a few weeks or even months before your immune system responds. During this time, you won't test positive for HIV, but you can infect other people.

When your immune system responds, it starts to make antibodies. When this happens, you will test positive for HIV.

After the first flu-like symptoms, some people with HIV stay healthy for ten years or longer. But during this time, HIV is damaging your immune system.

One way to measure the damage to your immune system is to count your CD4 cells you have. These cells, also called "T-helper" cells, are an important part of the immune system. Healthy people have between 500 and 1,500 CD4 cells in a milliliter of blood.

Without treatment, your CD4 cell count will most likely go down. You might start having signs of HIV disease like fevers, night sweats, diarrhea, or swollen lymph nodes. If you have HIV disease, these problems will last more than a few days, and probably continue for several weeks.


HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE AIDS?
HIV disease becomes AIDS when your immune system is seriously damaged. If you have less than 200 CD4 cells or if your CD4 percentage is less than 14%, you have AIDS. See Fact Sheet 124 for more information on CD4 cells. If you get an opportunistic infection, you have AIDS. There is an "official" list of these opportunistic infections put out by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The most common ones are:

PCP (Pneumocystis pneumonia), a lung infection;
KS (Kaposi's sarcoma), a skin cancer;
CMV (Cytomegalovirus), an infection that usually affects the eyes
Candida, a fungal infection that can cause thrush (a white film in your mouth) or infections in your throat or vagina
AIDS-related diseases also includes serious weight loss, brain tumors, and other health problems. Without treatment, these opportunistic infections can kill you.

The official (technical) CDC definition of AIDS is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml...


AIDS is different in every infected person. Some people die a few months after getting infected, while others live fairly normal lives for many years, even after they "officially" have AIDS. A few HIV-positive people stay healthy for many years even without taking antiretroviral medications (ARVs).

Feel free to write to me or visit
www.medicguide.org
this is a site done by me and my doctor friends to answer all your health queries for free...

lower immune system - gettin sick more often

The first sign of HIV infection can similar to the signs of general cold or flu virus. The indications of basic infection can also be same to the symptoms of other sexually transmitted diseases and other infections such as "mono" or hepatitis, which are much more commonly and more easily transmitted. Pressure and nervousness can also produce symptoms in a number of people, even though they do not contain HIV.

Some HIV patient have symptoms of commonly fever, fatigue, and, often inflammation. Other common symptoms can consist of headache, inflamed lymph nodes, and sore throat. These symptoms can occur within days or weeks of the early exposure to the virus during a stage called primary or acute HIV infection.

For the reason that of unclear symptoms linked with major or acute HIV infection, symptoms are not a consistent way to diagnose HIV infection. Testing for HIV antibodies is the only way to know whether you have been infected; however, the HIV antibody test only works after the infected person is immune system creates antibodies to HIV. During the "window period" between the initial infection and the period in which antibodies are visible standard HIV testing is useless

Amber is correct. Listen to her.

In the first stage, there are no symptoms. In stage 2, you might feel tired all the time, have night sweats, unexplained weight loss, bouts of diarrhea and a chronic or frequent low-grade fever -- any or all of these. Colds and flu would be more frequent, more severe and more difficult to shake off due to a suppressed immune system.

Do you have it?

Are you worried about having it ?
Why don't you get your boyfriend checked out too!