Acute HIV infection

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Immune system structures

Kaposi's sarcoma - lesion on the foot

Kaposi's sarcoma - perianal

Primary HIV infection

Primary HIV infection; HIV seroconversion syndrome; Acute retroviral syndrome

People with HIV infection need to receive education about the disease and its treatment so they can be active partners in decision making with the health care provider.

There is still controversy about whether aggressive early treatment of HIV infection with HIV medications will slow the progression of disease. You should discuss this option with your health care provider.

Certain healthful practices should be followed in the early stages of HIV infection:

• Stress should be kept to a minimum.
• Avoid exposure to people with acute infectious illnesses.
• Get adequate exercise, but don't wear yourself out.
• Maintain a nutritious diet with adequate caloric intake.
• Avoid settings and situations that could lead to depression. Maintain positive social contacts, hobbies, interests, and pets.
• Practice safer sex. The disease is highly infectious in the first month after infection.

The stress of illness can often be reduced by joining a support group, where members share common experiences and problems. See AIDS - support group.

HIV is a long-term medical condition that can be treated but not yet cured. There are effective means of preventing complications and delaying (but not preventing) progression to AIDS. At the present time, not all cases of HIV have progressed to AIDS, but time has shown that the vast majority do.

• AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
• opportunistic infections (unlikely to occur in early stages of HIV disease)
  • pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
  • candidiasis
  • cytomegalovirus infection
  • toxoplasmosis
  • cryptosporidium or other protozoal enterocolitis
  • Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC)
  • Tuberculosis
  • Bacillary angiomatosis
  • Salmonella infection of the bloodstream
  • Progressive multi-focal leukoencephalopathy (viral infection of the brain)
• malignancies, typically Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphomas
• autoimmune diseases

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you have had a possible or actual exposure to AIDS or HIV infection; or if you are at risk and have had symptoms suggestive of acute HIV infection.

Review Date: 02/13/2006
Reviewed By: Monica Gandhi, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.