HIV Symptoms Turning to AIDS Symptoms
The term
AIDS (autoimmune deficiency syndrome) applies to the most advanced stages of
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection. The definition of AIDS includes all HIV-infected people who have fewer than 200 CD4+ T cells per cubic millimeter of blood. (Healthy adults usually have CD4+ T cell counts of 1,000 or more.)
Signs and Symptoms of AIDS Caused by Opportunistic Infections
The definition of AIDS also includes 26 clinical conditions that affect people with advanced HIV disease. Most of these conditions are opportunistic infections that generally do not affect healthy people. In people with AIDS, these infections are often severe, and sometimes fatal, because the immune system is so ravaged by HIV that the body cannot fight off certain bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and other microbes. Common AIDS symptoms that stem from these opportunistic infections include:
- Coughing and shortness of breath
- Seizures and lack of coordination
- Difficult or painful swallowing
- Mental symptoms, such as confusion and forgetfulness
- Severe and persistent diarrhea
- Fever
- Vision loss
- Nausea, abdominal (stomach) cramps, and vomiting
- Weight loss and extreme fatigue
- Severe headaches
- Coma.
Children with AIDS may get the same opportunistic infections as adults with the disease. In addition, they have severe forms of the typically common childhood bacterial infections, such as conjunctivitis (
pink eye),
ear infections, and tonsillitis.
