The following symptoms and complaints may indicate HIV infection:
Symptoms of acute HIV disease
- General feeling of illness
- Loss of appetite
- Arthralgia (joint pain)
- Cephalgia (headache)
- Diarrhea (diarrhea)
- Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain)
- Exanthem (rash), maculopapular (“nodular-spotty”); truncal; occurring 3 to 6 weeks after infection (in 50% of cases).
- Fever
- Lymphadenopathy (enlargement of the lymph nodes)
- Myalgia (muscle pain)
- Meningitis (meningitis)
- Myelopathy – disease of the spinal cord.
- Nausea (nausea)/vomiting
- Pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat)
- Mucosal ulcerations – ulcers on the mucous membranes.
- Unwanted weight loss
Note: In acute HIV disease, approximately 50% to 90% of cases develop a clinical picture similar to “influenza or Epstein-Barr virus/monucleosis” within a period of 3 to 4 weeks after infection, which is usually short-lived.
Symptoms of the symptomatic stage
- Diarrhea (diarrhea)
- Fever
- Hairy leukoplakia – whitish raised areas appearing mainly on the tongue.
- Herpes zoster (shingles)
- Peripheral neuropathy – nerve damage, mainly occurring in the legs.
- Fungal infections
- Purpura – small bleeding of the skin and mucous membranes.
- Dry skin
- Unwanted weight loss
- Decreased performance
- Cervical dysplasia – changes in the cervix that can degenerate into carcinoma (cancer).
See also under indicator diseases.
Warning signs (red flags)
- HIV detection in children may indicate child abuse.
Indicator diseases
Indicator diseases, i.e., diseases associated with an increased likelihood of HIV infection (HIV prevalence > 0.1%):
- Sexually transmitted infections (STI) – esp. syphilis, gonorrhea, genital herpes, anal and genital condyloma or lymphogranuloma venereum.
- Hepatitis B/C
- Herpes zoster (shingles)
- Mononucleosis-like clinical picture
- Seborrheic dermatitis/exanthema (greasy-scaly inflammation of the skin).
- Cervical or anal carcinoma (cervical or anal cancer) or dysplasia.
- Lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system).
- Unexplained leukocytopenia (decreased white blood cell count)/thrombocytopenia (decreased platelet count).
Furthermore: atypical psoriasis (psoriasis), oral candidiasis (oral thrush / infection by yeasts), Soor esophagitis (esophagitis due to infection by yeasts), oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL; s. u. sequelae), chronic parotitis (parotitis), Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (formerly PCP – Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia; see sequelae below), and tuberculosis.
