HIV NPEP Access Toolkit > What is HIV?
What is HIV?
(CDC, 2022; NIH, n.d.)
Having a basic understanding of what HIV is, what the symptoms are, and how it is transmitted can assist healthcare professionals to make informed decisions regarding risk and prophylaxis for patients reporting a sexual assault.
HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. Without treatment, HIV infection advances in stages, and gradually destroys the immune system leading to AIDS. There is currently no cure for HIV but treatment with HIV medication, known as ART, can slow or prevent HIV from advancing from one stage to the next. With proper medical care, HIV can be controlled and individuals can live long, healthy lives and protect their partners.
It is important to remember that HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. A person has to contract the HIV virus in order to develop AIDS. Some people with HIV never develop AIDS.
What are the symptoms of HIV?
Many people will experience flu-like symptoms within two to four weeks after infection. These symptoms can last for just a few days or for several weeks. Since many other illnesses can cause similar symptoms, the only way to definitively diagnose HIV is to get tested
HIV can be described in stages. The first being acute infection, followed by chronic infection (clinical latency) and then AIDS.
- Acute HIV Infection is the earliest stage of HIV infection, and it generally develops within two to four weeks after infection with HIV. During this time, some people have flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, and rash. In the acute stage of infection, HIV multiplies rapidly and spreads throughout the body. The virus attacks and destroys the infection-fighting CD4 cells (CD4 T lymphocyte) of the immune system. During the acute infection stage, the level of HIV in the blood is very high, which greatly increases the risk of HIV transmission. A person may experience significant health benefits if they start ART during this stage.
- Chronic HIV Infection is the second stage of HIV infection (also called asymptomatic HIV infection or clinical latency). During this stage, HIV continues to multiply in the body but at very low levels. People with chronic HIV infection may not have any HIV-related symptoms. Without ART, chronic HIV infection usually advances to AIDS in 10 years or longer, though in some people it may advance faster. People who are taking ART may be in this stage for several decades. While it is still possible to transmit HIV to others during this stage, people who take ART exactly as prescribed and maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
- AIDS is the final, most severe stage of HIV infection. Because HIV has severely damaged the immune system, the body cannot fight off OI’s. People with HIV are diagnosed with AIDS if they have a CD4 count of less than 200 cells/mm3 or if they have certain OI’s. Once a person is diagnosed with AIDS, they can have a high viral load and are able to transmit HIV to others very easily. Without treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about 3 years.