HIV Symptoms: How It Affects Our Body

10 March, 2010 No Comment

Human Immunodeficiency Virus or shortly HIV affects our health in many ways. But before going into the details of its effect, we should be aware of how it spreads and what should be our concerns.

How HIV spreads
Breeding grounds of human immunodeficiency virus are generally body fluid, vaginal fluid, semen, blood etc. Thus, non-sexual transmission of this virus is very low.

Generally it spreads through following ways:

If someone has sex with the HIV infected person. Any kind of sex like anal, oral or vaginal sex has the risk of transmitting this disease through the semen or vaginal fluid.

Reuse of needles or syringes, which are already used by the person infected with HIV.

From the mother to the fetus, this virus can spread through the blood. Women can infect their babies during pregnancy, during the baby delivery and after birth by breast feeding.

Break the myth about HIV

It doesn’t spread by shaking hands, dry kiss on cheek, from toilet seats, sharing same bed. But if kissing with open mouth secretes saliva which has blood in it due to bleeding gum or any other reason, then kiss can transmit disease from one person to another.

Symptoms of HIV

Early symptom of HIV is the high fever, which might linger for month long. This fever may bring fatigue, headache, swelling in the lymph nodes etc.

There are many symptoms seen in the skin:

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection: In this case, varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes shingles and chicken pox to the HIV infected patient. If patient is not affected by chicken pox in his/her life before, then this time it can be dangerous and life threatening chicken pox. Shingles may spread all over the skin of the body. In case of Shingles, it might lead to the brain inflammation or encephalitis to the HIV infected patient.

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS): This is a kind of cancer due to the attack of Kaposi sarcoma herpes virus. In the weaker condition of HIV patient, this kind of tumors grow in blood vessel and lymph nodes and form brown, red, or purple lesions on the skin. This lesion can spread all over the liver, lungs, and digestive systems and can be very fatal.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV): This Virus in HIV infected patient forms open sore and leads to skin problems like blister or cluster.

Oral health can get affected with the HIV:

Herpes simplex virus: This virus can also cause sore inside or around the mouth.

Candidiasis: In this kind of fungal infection, the main symptom is the white patches in mouth or in the pharynx.

Many neurological disorders are seen in the patient infected with HIV like dementia, decision making problem, brain tumors, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy etc.

One of the major effects of HIV is the unexpected weight loss or wasting syndrome. This symptom may lead to loss of appetite, diarrhea and fever.

These are the various health decaying effects of HIV. Thus, stay alert and always stay away from the reasons of getting HIV in your body.

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