HIV, as all people know it, is a deadly virus that can infect anyone and also a primary cause of death around the world. Many people have been linking HIV infection to some symptoms that may be true, but also more likely to be caused by other diseases. That is why, early symptoms of HIV infection is hard to detect. For some, HIV infection may show symptoms that are quite ordinary.
Some of the symptoms that can be linked to HIV infection are having high fever, flu and headaches. All these symptoms are just so ordinary that people won't link them directly to HIV infection, unless if they have had sexual encounters a few weeks or months before. Moreover, HIV symptoms seldom surface as it moves silently in a victim's body while producing more HIVs. Even if early symptoms exist, they can only be seen 2 weeks or 3 months after a suspicious sexual encounters or medical infections. Bear in mind that HIV itself does not kill a person, but rather paralyze the immune system slowly but effectively so that the body cannot defend itself from other deadly infections such as hepatitis B.
Some other more prevalent symptoms are chest infection, mouth ulcers, pains in the muscles and joints and also diarrhea. All of these happen as the body cells system are trying desperately to fight other types of infections rather than HIV. Most of the time the victim has enlarged lymph nodes as its functions of removing bacteria begins to deteriorate. Other STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) may also start to persist such as genital sores and genital herpes and genital warts. As you can see, HIV itself does not cause all of the illnesses above but rather a weakened immune system that makes it unable to defend itself from other diseases. As CD4+ T cell count begins to go down, an infected person may find his body condition deteriorating until the point of death.
The best way to check for HIV infection is still by medically certified tests, such as ELISA test. It is better to fork out some money to check yourself thoroughly than waiting for symptoms to appear, which may also mean, it's too late.
By Steve Allen
