The symptoms of HIV

Symptoms of primary HIV infection may include:

• fever,
• sore throat,
• tiredness,
• joint pain,
• muscle pain,
• swollen glands (nodes), or
• a blotchy rash on the chest.

The initial stage of HIV is known as primary HIV infection. In people who are infected with HIV, 60% will develop associated symptoms, usually two to six weeks after they are first infected with HIV. These early symptoms are often very mild, so it is easy to mistake them for another condition, such as a cold or glandular fever.

After the initial symptoms listed above, HIV will often not cause any further symptoms for many years. This is known as asymptomatic HIV infection. During this time, the virus is still reproducing and damaging your immune system.

HIV test/sexual health screening

You can go for an HIV test and sexual health screening at:

• your doctor,
• a private clinic,
• sexual health clinics, which are sometimes known as genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics,
• Fastest clinics,
• some contraception and young people’s clinics,
• an antenatal clinic if you’re pregnant and
• local drugs agencies (if you’re an injecting drug user).

It is also possible to buy home sampling kits from the internet where a sample of saliva is sent to the laboratory for analysis. Saliva tests are less reliable than using blood, and selling home tests to the general public that do not require analysis is illegal in the UK.

If you go to your doctor for an HIV test, the results will be confidential but will go on your medical records which mean, for example, certain insurance companies will be able to see them. This will not be the case if you go to a private clinic but you will have to pay for the test.

Sexual health services at sexual health (GUM) clinics are free and available to everyone regardless of sex, age, ethnic origin and sexual orientation. All information regarding your visit to the sexual health clinic will be confidential and your doctor will not be contacted without your permission.

At most services in the UK the result should be available within 10 days. Some clinics offer same day testing but an appointment is usually required.

The life expectancy for someone with HIV

A large multinational study published in medical journal The Lancet in 2008, found that people taking HIV treatments can expect to live into their 60s and older.

Treatment with antiretroviral drugs of people infected with HIV-1 has improved significantly since the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy in 1996 when they were first introduced.

Clinical trials and studies have shown huge reductions in death rates in patients infected with HIV, due to combination antiretroviral therapy.

The study concluded that life expectancy in HIV-infected patients treated with combination antiretroviral therapy increased between 1996 and 2005, although there is a lot of variability.

Combination therapy is the group of drugs (usually three) that doctors prescribe to HIV patients to slow down the spread of HIV, thereby slowing down the damage it does to their immune system. It is not a cure. Combination therapy is also called: treatments, anti-HIV treatments or HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy).

Related articles

1. What you need to know about hysterectomy
2. Circumcision helps stop wart virus
3. Male circumcision for HIV prevention
4. Specific disorders of ovulation
5. Erectile dysfunction – Impotence
6. Chlamydia — a sexually transmitted disease
7. Infertility
8. Lessons on HIV and AIDS – Oral thrush
9. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and the menopause

You have permission to reprint what you just read. The only requirement is including the following footer with it…
”Article by allvitalpoints.com, visit http://www.allvitalpoints.com for more original content like this. Reprint permission granted with this footer included.”

Related posts:

1. Lessons on HIV and AIDS – The myths and facts
2. Lessons on HIV and AIDS: The unborn baby
3. The facts about HIV and AIDS
4. Chlamydia Infection: Symptoms And Causes
5. Chlamydia — a sexually transmitted disease
6. Treatment for genital human papilloma virus (HPV) infection
7. Genital Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Infection
8. Respiratory tract infection — Bronchiolitis