3 Stages of Development of HIV Infection to AIDS

KOMPAS.com – AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS is a collection of symptoms that show weakness in the body due to infection HIV characterized by several opportunistic infections. What happens to people with AIDS?

AIDS is a syndrome caused by infection with HIV or AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Reported from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the journey of HIV infection to AIDS is divided into three stages.

Stage 1: Acute HIV infection

Infection at this early stage is characterized by a high amount of HIV in the patient’s body. Patients may experience only mild symptoms such as the common cold or even no pain at all. These symptoms may disappear without treatment, but the HIV virus will remain in the patient’s body.

This phase often goes unnoticed, but is very dangerous. At this stage, the patient is very easy to transmit the virus to others.

Stage 2: Chronic HIV infection

This second phase is also known as asymptomatic HIV infection because there are no symptoms that actually arise. The virus in the patient’s body continues to replicate but in low numbers.

Detecting HIV infection early, especially in this phase, is very important. People who have been detected with HIV and are undergoing treatment since this stage, usually will not progress to the next stage, namely the AIDS stage.

At the end of this second stage, the amount of HIV will increase in the blood and is accompanied by a decrease in the body’s immune system. These signs will bring the patient into the third stage, namely AIDS.

Stage 3: AIDS

HIV as the cause of AIDS will result in infected people experiencing decrease in CD4 cells. CD4 is part of immune system which function to activate immune cells, such as B lymphocytes, to fight infection.

HIV will enter the CD4, then replicate, and destroy the CD4 from the inside. This continues to the point where the body is not fast enough to produce CD4 cells to fight HIV. It is at this point that the patient enters the third stage, namely AIDS.

AIDS is the most severe form of HIV infection and is characterized by the presence of several opportunistic infections. Without treatment, AIDS patients usually survive about three years.

Read also: The Virus that Causes AIDS and the Mechanism of HIV Makes People Sick

Reported from USCF HealthHere are some of the most common opportunistic infections found in AIDS patients:

• The brain: enselopati, meningitis cryptococcal, toksoplasmosis
• Mata: cytomegalovirus (CMV)
• Digestive tract: CMV, crypstosporidiosis
• Genital: candidiasis, herpes simplex, cervical cancer
• Heart: hepatitis B and C
• Paru-paru: histoplasmosis, recurrent pneumonia, tuberculosis
• Mouth and throat: candidiasis
• Lymph gland: Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

That’s the journey of the development of HIV infection to AIDS, along with the symptoms that may be caused to the body.

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