AIDS symptoms. Stages of development of HIV infection

Women are infected with the immunodeficiency virus more often than men. HIV symptoms in women are much more varied than in infected men, making early detection of infection easier. This fact is due to the characteristics hormonal levels and microflora of the body.

The incubation period of HIV infection lasts the same for women and men: from 1 to 4 months (a small percentage of cases have been recorded when such a period lasted about a year). During this period there are no Clinical signs infection, no test will show the correct result.

Appear only after the disease has progressed to acute phase, which lasts from two months to a year. The duration of the acute phase depends on the strength immune system.

The symptoms of the first manifestations of HIV in women are more pronounced than in women, and the number of symptoms that appear soon after infection is much greater.

Features of HIV in pregnant women

The body of pregnant women can produce specific cells of the immune system, which are often confused with. To exclude erroneous results, blood tests in pregnant women are repeated several times using various methods.

HIV testing during pregnancy is carried out at the end of the first and second trimesters. Use various methods laboratory diagnostics; The most common methods are PCR and immunoblotting. This is necessary to exclude possible mistakes in the results.

Often the primary signs of HIV are unclear and are mistaken for colds or seasonal exacerbation of chronic diseases.

The symptoms of HIV are similar to the signs of toxicosis in pregnant women. Similar signs:

nausea, vomiting;
dizziness and loss of coordination of movements;
weight loss;
increased fatigue, powerlessness, apathy;
depression and insomnia.

If an immunodeficiency virus is detected in a pregnant woman, a repeat test is first scheduled to confirm the diagnosis. At positive result antiretroviral treatment is given to increase the chances of giving birth healthy child. An infected woman who is not treated during pregnancy risks the health of the fetus. Statistics show that every second person will develop an infection if treatment is not carried out.

Interesting! A child whose at least one parent is infected is tested PCR method three times to prevent infection.

Childbirth in HIV-infected people is usually carried out with the help of caesarean section, to prevent infection of a child when passing through birth canal. Such children are immediately transferred to artificial feeding.

Symptoms of HIV in the early stages of the disease

On early stages HIV manifests itself in many different ways in women. Primary signs infections are similar to the symptoms of colds and other diseases that patients do not pay attention to.

To the row external signs Diseases specific to women include:

slight inflammation of the lymph nodes throughout the body;
, peeling of the skin;
weight loss; loss of appetite, which can develop into anorexia;
herpetic rashes in the mouth and genitals, the development of candidiasis, fungal diseases of various localizations;
frequent headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea;
increased urge to urinate, diarrhea, abdominal pain;
possible loss of coordination of movements, disorders nervous system(insomnia, depressed mood, fast fatiguability, apathy);
increased sweating during sleep;
problems with reproductive system(delay of menstruation, change in the amount menstrual blood, bleeding or excessive mucus discharge);
exacerbation of diseases of the urinary system.

At the asymptomatic stage of the disease, the listed signs gradually disappear, creating the impression of complete recovery.

Symptoms in HIV-infected women in late stages of the disease

At the end of the asymptomatic stage, the phase of secondary diseases begins.

Immune system cells are no longer produced in sufficient quantities to maintain protective barrier body.

vaginal mucosa and other membranes are not completely cured. Colpitis, vaginitis are complicated by the development malignant neoplasms, cervical cancer often develops.
The respiratory system suffers. Often AIDS is accompanied by pneumonia.
Diffuse lymphosarcoma (soft tissue) appears and develops rapidly. In women, the central nervous system and PNS are most often affected.

The symptoms of the secondary disease phase are similar to those of primary stage diseases. Signs of infection in women:

Increase lymph nodes in the groin, in the armpit area.
Increased sweating, especially at night.
Development of candidiasis (thrush, other fungal diseases).
Extreme fatigue for no apparent reason.
Pain in the pelvic area.

Skin rashes

Diseases become protracted and have a negative impact on general condition body. This is due to the fact that HIV becomes irreversible, last stage– AIDS, after which life expectancy is only a few years or even months.

In infected women due to the effects of secondary infections:

rapid development of malignant tumors;
progressive tuberculosis, including extrapulmonary;
complicated pneumonia;
ulcerative processes on the mucous membranes (wounds do not heal);
chronic severe diseases of the genitourinary organs;
damage to the central and peripheral nervous system;
bones become brittle, hair and teeth fall out;
reduction of body weight to critical parameters.

If a woman becomes infected with HIV, she needs to carefully monitor her health, since a weakened immune system contributes to the development of diseases that healthy woman are treated quickly and without complications.

To slow the course of the disease, the doctor prescribes special antiretroviral therapy, management healthy image life. This helps prolong asymptomatic period, the onset of the AIDS stage is delayed. Sometimes AIDS does not develop and HIV positive woman lives a normal life.

It is very complex and cannot always be recognized in the initial stages. Most often, patients perceive the first symptoms as simple chronic fatigue or they are not noticed at all for many years.

How does the disease progress?

Experts note four stages of HIV infection:

Incubation period
Primary symptoms
Secondary type of disease
AIDS (last stage)

A large number of infected people throughout for long years They don’t even suspect that they have been infected for a long time. In some cases, the period from the onset of the disease to AIDS can take up to 10-15 years.

The main signs on initial stage may be on the neck, in the groin area, on the collarbone, but not everyone attaches this visible symptoms values and do not rush to see a doctor, but in vain.

Over time, an infected person may notice that his immunity weakens, and he begins to catch colds often, constantly getting worse. chronic diseases, health worsens.

All this says is that protective functions the body is destroyed, and the person approaches death, which can occur even with a runny nose.

How dangerous is HIV?

Everyone knows that HIV is serious illness, which is currently completely untreatable. But when the right attitude you can live a long time to the disease and follow all the doctor’s instructions for therapy ordinary life healthy person. The main danger of this infection is that it can be transmitted from person to person and is very long time is not actively manifested, which leads to loss of time, which is very important in this case.

Modes of transmission of the disease include:

unprotected sexual intercourse
piercings and tattoos that were done with unsterile instruments
group of people using one injection needle
medical error, that is, transfusion of contaminated blood,
unsterility of surgical and other instruments
from sick mother to child

HIV is not transmitted through everyday contact, through touch, dishes, clothing, utensils, toilets, baths, etc. Therefore, you should not make outcasts out of carriers of the infection; they are non-infectious to some extent.

Undiagnosed by the fact that a person who does not know about his HIV status can infect his sexual partners, will not be able to stop the destructive process in time with the help of drugs, and will simply die.

Primary signs

Experts say that in women the virus in its initial stages manifests itself much more acutely than in men. This is due to the fact that in the vaginal fluid of representatives of the fairer sex there is a small presence of beneficial microbes, unlike the opposite sex, so the risk of receiving an unpleasant diagnosis is much greater. We can say that the main symptoms manifest themselves in the same way in both sexes, but women have some specific manifestations:

frequent painful sensations in the pelvic area
the menstrual cycle is disrupted
unpleasant vaginal discharge, in the form of mucus
lymph nodes in the groin area are noticeably enlarged
signs of anorexia appear, which are accompanied by weight loss, nausea and vomiting, and lack of appetite
During menstruation, health deteriorates critically
nervousness, Bad mood, hysterics, nervous breakdowns

If you have at least some of these signs, then you should definitely go to the clinic and undergo full examination, having donated everything, including blood for hormone levels and HIV infection, and better yet, without waiting for health problems periodically, find out your status at least once a year using express tests.

Main symptoms of HIV infection in women

The main manifestations of the disease in both women and men include:

frequent loose stools
causeless cough
nausea followed by vomiting
febrile state
losing weight at a fast pace
skin rashes, even dermatitis,

Also, an infected person may experience the following psychological abnormalities:

constant feeling of anxiety
insomnia
depressive states
frequent anxiety

It is worth paying attention to other signs, such as:

dyspnea
swelling of the lower extremities
memory problems, even some manifestations of dementia
increased sweating during sleep

Disease development process

It is worth knowing that HIV does not always progress to the AIDS stage and modern world This is an exception rather than a pattern. If a patient takes antiretroviral therapy stably, his quality of life remains almost unchanged.

Antiretroviral therapy blocks the infection from multiplying and keeps the immune system within limits. possible norm. This is prescribed to all infected people, regardless of gender and age. Thanks to therapy, mortality has decreased significantly.

Differences and similarities between symptoms in women and men

There is an opinion that HIV infection is much easier to detect in women than in men. This is due to the fact that in this case the signs are clearer, and the clinical picture has more variety. But at the same time, the main symptoms are the same and do not depend on gender, as well as treatment.

Ordinary people spread the myth that female AIDS develops more slowly than male AIDS. An explanation for this may be the fact that women visit the hospital more often and take better care of themselves, including visits to the gynecologist periodically.

HIV in the fairer sex in the primary period manifests itself as disorders genitourinary system, in the form of purely women's problems:

itching and redness in the genital area
vaginal discharge
formation of ulcers, pustules on the mucous membrane of the genital organs

- this is extremely serious disease, which without treatment leads to the development of AIDS and death of patients. The female body in view of a row physiological characteristics very susceptible to HIV infection. Infection with the disease in question in at a young age can become a serious test and obstacle for a woman on the path to motherhood. In this regard, every representative of the fairer sex should know what HIV infection is, how it is transmitted and how it manifests itself.

How can a woman become infected with HIV?

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in a concentration that poses a threat to surrounding people is found only in certain biological environments of the body:

in blood;
in sperm and pre-ejaculate (male lubricant);
in vaginal discharge;
V breast milk;
in the lymph.

If any of these liquids come into contact with intact skin, infection will not occur. But the mucous membranes are not so reliable; in their thickness there are dendritic cells sensitive to HIV, with their help dangerous virus With high probability can penetrate the body. If the skin or mucous membranes are damaged (cracks, abrasions, inflammatory elements, ulcers, erosions), the risk of infection increases significantly.

Thus, a woman can become infected with HIV in the following situations:

For any sexual intercourse(the receiving party, who is the woman during sex, is most at risk of infection from an HIV-positive partner). If a woman has cervical erosion or inflammatory processes in the vagina, the likelihood of getting HIV through sexual contact increases.
When conducting injections with syringes containing remnants of the blood of a sick person.
At transfusion of contaminated blood or transplantation of infected organs.
At performing professional duties(for example, a doctor or nurse).

Regarding infection at home and during such cosmetic procedures, such as manicure, pedicure, tattooing, piercing, then it is unlikely, since HIV is not very stable outside the human body. However, if a beauty salon technician does not adhere to the rules for disinfecting instruments, infection is possible.

The first signs of HIV in women

After infection, HIV infection does not make itself felt immediately. HIV in women may not appear until several weeks or even months later. But you shouldn’t expect any specific manifestations. The clinical picture of acute HIV infection often resembles the usual one. In sick women, body temperature rises, weakness, aches, chills appear. Gastrointestinal disorders and skin rash may occur.

The only sign of HIV infection that can really be alarming is long-term enlarged and painful lymph nodes. Such pathological changes from the outside lymphatic system arise because the main targets of HIV are lymphocytes and immunity.

Important!The first stages of HIV infection may be asymptomatic - it all depends on individual characteristics body. Therefore, if there is a suspicion that an infection has occurred, it is imperative. Women and their spouses must undergo an HIV test, regardless of whether there are any precedents. This can be done anonymously in almost every clinic or specialized centers involved in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Features of the course of HIV in women

The main manifestation of the persistence of HIV infection in the human body is severe suppression of the immune system, which leads to the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ().

It is from complications of AIDS that patients die. From the moment of HIV infection to the onset of AIDS, as a rule, quite a long time passes (on average 5-10 years, but if a person is treated with antiretroviral drugs, terminal stage HIV infection does not occur for decades).

You can suspect that immunity is decreasing and that a woman is HIV-positive based on the following symptoms:
Unreasonable weight loss.
Chronic fatigue.
Frequently worsening inflammatory diseases of the genital organs. In such patients, treatment ceases to respond at all.
Appearance in the genital area.
Frequent exacerbations and herpes (occurring in the mouth area).
Pustular and fungal skin diseases.
Periodic causeless low-grade fever (when the temperature rises to 37-37.5 degrees). Repeated cases of herpes zoster. This pathology ordinary people
get sick once.

Extremely severe course of any infectious disease.

In addition, many researchers are inclined to believe that women suffering from HIV infection are much more likely to develop cervical cancer.

Pregnancy and HIV infection A diagnosis of HIV infection is not a contraindication for planning pregnancy and childbirth.

A sick woman can become a mother, but to reduce the risk of infection of the fetus, she must follow all the recommendations of doctors and be sure to take the antiretroviral drugs prescribed by them.

Infection of a child with HIV from a sick mother can occur:
in utero;
intrapartum (during childbirth); at breastfeeding

(breast milk is dangerous for the baby).

Almost all of these risk factors can be influenced if HIV is detected early in a pregnant woman or, even better, in a woman just planning to conceive a child. Such patients must undergo antiretroviral therapy according to special schemes. This allows you to effectively reduce the viral load.

Well, in order to protect the child from infection during childbirth, the pregnant woman undergoes a planned procedure. Next, newborns are prescribed a prophylactic course of antiretroviral drugs and artificial feeding. If all preventive measures work and the child does not get HIV from his mother (this is confirmed by repeated studies), his subsequent development occurs in the same way as other children of the same age.

In the absence of any preventive measures The probability of a child contracting HIV from a sick mother, according to various sources, ranges from 19 to 40%. These figures once again confirm the need for women to take a responsible attitude towards their health.

Zubkova Olga Sergeevna, medical observer, epidemiologist

That's all today adult population planet is informed about HIV infection. But doctors

are concerned that this knowledge is still not sufficient. There are no drugs that cure the disease. But the opportunity to slow down its development is real. Timely appeal behind medical care will greatly help in the fight against the disease. That is why it is necessary to know well in women, children and men.

What is HIV infection

The human body’s immune system is weakened so that it is unable to protect the patient even from the most “harmless” ailments. Any of them can be fatal. In addition, constant complications arise after illness, which also leads to death.

Difference and women

Do they exist? Doctors have proven that the symptoms of HIV infection in women are generally no different from the signs of this disease in men.

Common symptoms for adults are:

Increased size of lymph nodes;

Increased body temperature for 2-3 days;

Significant weight loss;

Loss of strength that lasts for a long or short time;

Frequent pneumonia fungal infections, herpes, tonsillitis;

Fever;

Rashes on the skin and mucous membranes.

These symptoms may appear in combination or separately. But, what is most dangerous, they may not declare themselves at all for many years. The patient simply does not suspect that he has HIV infection. Symptoms appear less frequently in women than in men. And the course of the disease itself passes more slowly - this is the point of view of some experts. This may be because women tend to take more care of themselves than men.

among women

A significant percentage of women on the planet are prone to diseases of the genitourinary system. This can lead to weakened immunity and the possibility of infection. Symptoms of HIV infection in women are an increase in the size of the lymph nodes in the groin area, fatigue, irritability, painful menstruation, frequent headaches, mucous discharge from the vagina, pain in the pelvic area.

Each woman must have experienced all of the listed signs of ailments at least once in her life. Therefore, they should not be immediately considered symptoms of HIV infection. But their frequent manifestation should alert a person.

Seeing a doctor and getting a blood test can help alleviate concerns about having HIV. The first symptoms in women can be detected at an appointment with a gynecologist. Therefore, observation by this specialist should become regular.

HIV infection in men

The nature of men and women is initially different. Most representatives of the fairer sex strive for constancy not only in terms of everyday life and work, but also in intimate life Same.

Men are prone to active actions, they are always ready for new sensations. Sometimes this leads to an indiscriminate change of sexual partners. With this lifestyle, HIV infection is potentially possible in the body. Symptoms in men, as already mentioned, can manifest themselves more expressively than in the weaker sex. The disease itself passes from the initial stage to the final stage in a shorter period of time.

Preventive actions

Doctors give a large share of the work related to the prevention of HIV infection to the person himself. Rules of personal hygiene and personal safety standards should become part of the culture of all people.

One of the warnings from doctors concerns reusable use. medical instruments, intended according to the instructions for one-time use. First of all, this has to do with syringes. Doctors insist that people should never use them again, under any pretext.

The most common route of HIV infection is sexual intercourse. Therefore, using condoms is the only reliable and simple way to protect yourself and your partner from infection.

HIV Treatment Methods

Not today medical supplies that can cure the disease. The search of scientists around the world in this direction does not stop.

Medicine offers effective techniques which can delay the progression of the disease.

The main recommendation for an HIV patient is to stay in good shape and feel great. This can be achieved by following a diet, eliminating stressful situations, maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Constant monitoring by a doctor is another recommendation that should not be neglected. The doctor, using a special technique, monitors the changes that occur in the patient’s body, records them and makes a decision on further procedures.

Antiviral therapy is often used to treat an infection. Treatment methods and medications used are prescribed individually for each patient. Most often, procedures are prescribed in a complex manner.

Sometimes an HIV patient combines traditional and alternative medicine. Massage, yoga, breathing exercises, herbal treatment, acupuncture are the most common methods of traditional healing.

The method of acupuncture treatment has its roots in ancient times and has many supporters. Eat big number HIV patients who note the positive effects of the procedure on the body.

There is a direction of alternative medicine where it is believed that all painful conditions of a person are caused by his own thoughts, feelings, and emotions. The mood for wellness give meditation, massage, physical exercise, medicinal herbs.

HIV is one of the most dangerous diseases humanity. You can only escape from it through joint efforts, since the disease has no political boundaries.

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) belongs to the retrovirus family. HIV affects various systems of the human body (for example, nervous, digestive), but damage to the immune system is predominant.

As HIV infection progresses, the immune system loses its ability to cope with even the most harmless infections. The final destination of this infection is the formation of AIDS. Therefore, it is important to know how HIV infection develops, symptoms in women and men, as well as signs in the early stages.

In fact, AIDS is the terminal (final) stage of the development of HIV infection, usually with a fatal outcome. At the same time, it is not AIDS itself or the initial link in the development of AIDS, that is, HIV infection, that is deadly, but diseases that develop against the background of altered immune status, - so-called opportunistic diseases.

These include various infectious, oncological or autoimmune diseases(diseases in which the human immune system perceives the body's own cells as foreign and damages them).

Statistics

Human immunodeficiency virus infection has now spread to all countries of the world. Statistics show that 40 million people are living with it and 35 million have died from the disease since the epidemic began. It was particularly destructive in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa, but HIV mortality in other countries is also high.

How is HIV transmitted?

The source of infection is HIV-infected people (at any stage of the disease). The virus is present in various biological fluids: first of all, in the blood, but also in cerebrospinal fluid, vaginal secretions, breast milk, ejaculate. The virus is also present in saliva and urine, but in concentrations that are not sufficient for infection.

Main routes of infection HIV are:

Sexual (during unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person);
Hematogenous (through blood): through transfusion of blood and its components, use of contaminated medical instruments, failure to comply with aseptic rules in tattoo parlors, use of a shared contaminated syringe among injection drug users;
Vertical (infection of a child from an infected mother during breastfeeding, pregnancy or childbirth).

Clinical manifestations of HIV infection depend on the stage of the process.

Signs of HIV in women and men

The most common and typical signs HIV include:

weight loss, reduction muscle mass, and in later stages even dystrophy;
chronic diarrhea;
persistent colds;
severe headaches;
labored breathing;
pain in the chest area;
blurred vision;
disease;
various , ;
depressive states.

Along with other signs, HIV symptoms can also appear in the oral cavity: periodontal diseases, inflammation of the mucous membrane, herpes. HIV symptoms can be expressed through a cough, since those infected are characterized by pulmonary diseases in the form and .

HIV: symptoms

The disease occurs in 5 clinical stages. In the early stages, women and men are diagnosed with HIV infection, in the later stages - AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). At the same time, the development of AIDS symptoms is a prognostically unfavorable sign (see photo).

How long does it take for the first signs to appear?

After the virus enters a person’s blood, the first stage of HIV infection begins—the incubation period. This is the period of time between the moment a person is infected with the virus and the occurrence of the body’s first reaction. Duration incubation period HIV infection in most patients lasts three to six months, but it can be shorter or last several years.

Stage of primary manifestations

The body's immune response to the introduction, reproduction and massive spread of HIV. The first symptoms appear within the first three months after infection; they may precede seroconversion. Duration is usually 2-3 weeks (rarely several months).

The course of the infection may vary:

Asymptomatic. There are no manifestations of the disease. There is only the production of antibodies.
Acute HIV infection– this is where the first symptoms of HIV infection appear, accompanied by the body to low-grade fever, increased fatigue, excessive sweating, various rashes on the skin and mucous membranes, enlarged lymph nodes (usually posterior cervical, axillary, elbow), some people may experience diarrhea, enlarged spleen and liver. Blood test - thrombocytopenia. This period lasts on average from 2 weeks to 1.5 months, then passes into the latent stage.
Acute HIV infection with secondary diseases– sometimes in the acute phase the suppression of immunity is so strong that already at this stage HIV-associated infections may appear (pneumonia, herpes, fungal infections etc.).

Sometimes autoimmune diseases (and others) develop. The cause and mechanism of formation are not yet clear. However, most often these diseases occur over late stages.

Latent stage

There are no clinical symptoms of HIV in women or men; humans are the source of infection. The disease continues to develop within the body.

The duration of this stage is up to ten years or more. The virus continues to destroy cells of the immune system, but their death is compensated by their increased production. Immunity fades slowly but constantly until the number of lymphocytes drops to a certain critical level.

Stage of secondary diseases or AIDS

During the period of secondary diseases, the patient experiences opportunistic infections - diseases caused by habitual pathogens that the body's destroyed immune system cannot cope with. The patient may experience infectious diseases respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, CNS, skin, malignant neoplasms.

All secondary diseases are divided into several groups:

Kaposi's sarcoma;
brain lymphoma;
candidiasis of the esophagus, bronchi or lungs;
Pneumocystis pneumonia;
pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis, etc.

Each patient has an individual course of HIV infection. The most dangerous situation is considered to be one in which the asymptomatic course immediately passes into the thermal stage, because it is no longer possible to help the person.

Terminal stage

Irreversible changes are present and treatment is ineffective. The number of T helper cells (CD4 cells) falls below 0.05x109/l, patients die weeks or months from the onset of the stage.

For drug addicts who use psychoactive substances for several years, the CD4 level may remain almost within normal limits, but severe infectious complications (abscesses, pneumonia, etc.) develop very quickly and lead to death.

Symptoms of HIV in women

Women are much more likely than men to experience such secondary symptoms HIV is like herpes cytomegalovirus infection and, as well as candidal esophagitis.

In addition, at the stage of secondary manifestations, the first signs of the disease may be disturbances menstrual cycle, inflammatory diseases pelvic organs, most often acute salpingitis. Diseases of the cervix may be observed, for example, carcinoma or.

Symptoms of HIV in men

In men, the symptoms fit into the usual clinical picture, without specific manifestations. They say that in female body HIV develops more slowly than in men. However, the reason for this statement may be a woman’s more attentive attitude to her health.

Symptoms of HIV infection in children

Main feature clinical picture HIV in children is a delay in the speed of psychomotor development. In addition to this, in childhood Various encephalopathies, lymphoid pneumonitis, enlarged pulmonary lymph nodes, anemia, hemorrhagic syndrome and recurrence of bacterial infections.

Principles of treatment

Treatment of HIV in women and men is prescribed after a clinical examination and laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis. The patient is constantly monitored, repeated blood tests are carried out within antiviral therapy and after treatment of HIV manifestations.

A cure for HIV has not yet been invented, and there is no vaccine. It is impossible to remove the virus from the body, and this is a fact at this time. However, one should not lose hope: active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can reliably slow down and even practically stop the development of HIV infection and its complications.

HAART

Currently, Highly Active is used to treat HIV-infected patients. Antiretroviral Therapy(HAART) or Antiretroviral Therapy (APT), which is a combination of 3 or more antiretroviral drugs from different groups.

HAART has been widely introduced clinical practice since 1996, which allows us to distinguish the HAART era in the treatment of HIV-infected patients and the pre-HAART era (the period before 1996), when monotherapy was widely used. Currently, zidovudine monotherapy is used only in newborns of unknown HIV status in the first 4 weeks of life to prevent perinatal HIV acquisition.

The widespread use of HAART has led to significant reduction mortality of HIV-infected patients, reducing the incidence of AIDS and associated conditions (opportunistic infections, tumors, etc.). The result of HAART was a significant extension of life expectancy and an increase in its quality.