Can You Survive AIDS?

Early symptoms of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) typically develop two to four weeks following infection with the virus and include: 

• Fever
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Flu-like symptoms 
• Sore throat
• Headache
• Skin rash
• Muscle pain
• Joint pain
• Nausea 
• Vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Diarrhea
• Dry cough 
• Painful open sores or ulcers in the mouth, esophagus, anus, or penis (only occurs in a small proportion of those exposed to the virus)

Untreated HIV can become AIDS after several years, and symptoms may include:

• Swelling of lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, or groin
• Recurrent fever
• Night sweats
• Stomach pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Rapid weight loss
• Persistent diarrhea 
• Sores on the mouth, anus, or genitals
• Red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
• Memory loss, depression, and other neurologic disorders
• Opportunistic infections
  • Candidiasis of the mouth (oral thrush) that can cause soreness and raised, white patches
  • Lung infections such as pneumonia, which can cause shortness of breath
  • Eye infections that cause trouble seeing and blurred vision
  • Brain infections

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is transmitted via blood or through sexual intercourse and exposure to other bodily fluids (such as semen or vaginal fluids) from a person with HIV. 

HIV is NOT spread by casual contact.

HIV infection can occur if a person:

• Has unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex with a person infected with HIV
• Shares needles or syringes with someone who has HIV
• A pregnant woman can transmit HIV to her baby during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding
  • This is no longer common with the use of HIV medications during and after pregnancy

Risk factors for contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) include:

• Men who have sex with other men
• Sexual partners of people infected with HIV
• People who have unprotected sex with multiple partners
• Drug users who share needles or “works”
• People with a history of a sexually transmitted disease (STD)
• People who exchange sex for money or drugs or have sex partners who do
• Victims of sexual assault 
• Anyone accidentally stuck with a needle or sharp in a health care facility
• Receiving a blood transfusion or other blood product before 1984 
  • Blood products were not routinely screened for HIV prior to 1984

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is treated with different combinations of antiretroviral medicines to help control infection.

There is no cure for AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), the advanced stage of HIV infection, but medications are used to reduce the amount of HIV virus in the body, keep the immune system healthy, and decrease the complications of the disease.

Medications used to treat AIDS include: 

• Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI)
• Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI)
• Protease inhibitors (PI)
• Fusion inhibitors
• Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)