How soon after contracting HIV would you see symptoms?

Question

My husbands cousin thinks he may have aids because he has begun noticing these "lesions" on his legs and arms. However he is living in a trailer at the junkyard where he works and they thought brown recloose spiders may have nested in the cars that were brought up from down south (we live in Ohio) and thought he was being bitten by them. But when he squeezes the lesions stringy pus comes out....? What do you think?

Answer 1

It is possible to be infected with HIV and to transmit the virus without showing symptoms of illness. Many people do not develop any symptoms when they first become infected with HIV. Some people, however, have a flu-like illness within a month or two after exposure to the virus. They may have symptoms including:

Fever
Headaches
Lack of energy
Enlarged lymph nodes easily felt in the neck and groin
These symptoms usually disappear within a week to a month and are often mistaken for the flu. The only way to determine for sure whether you are infected is to be tested for HIV infection. The following symptoms may develop after years of being infected with HIV and may signal that the infection has progressed to AIDS:

Rapid weight loss
Deep, dry coughing
Recurring fever or profuse night sweats
Profound and unexplained fatigue
Swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck
Diarrhea that lasts for more than a week
Bruising more easily than normal
White spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue, in the mouth, or in the throat
Recurring yeast infections
Pneumonia
Red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
Numbness or pain in the hands or feet
Loss of muscle control and reflex, paralysis, or loss of muscular strength
Memory loss, depression, and other neurological disorders.

Because these symptoms can take years to manifest, their absence is not an indicator of HIV status. Only a medical provider can diagnose AIDS based on specific criteria established by the CDC.

Answer 2

The majority of people infected by HIV develop a flu-like illness within a month or two after the virus enters the body. This illness, known as primary or acute HIV infection, may last for a few weeks. Possible signs and symptoms include: Fever Headache Muscle aches Rash Chills Sore throat Mouth or genital ulcers Swollen lymph glands, mainly on the neck Joint pain Night sweats Diarrhea Although the symptoms of primary HIV infection may be mild enough to go unnoticed, the amount of virus in the bloodstream (viral load) is particularly high at this time. As a result, HIV infection spreads more efficiently during primary infection than during the next stage of infection.

Answer 3

Hello,

if a person is infected it is referred to as acute infection which flu-like symptoms start to flare up from 2-4 weeks then 95% in patient can be detected after 4 weeks

If a person is infected with hiv, the virus starts working and i think antibodies arise.....that is antibody test comes unto play......most people antibody start to flare up within a month of infection where early infection symptoms are evident like Flu symptoms, headache, lesion purple like etc......

An antigen is a part of a virus that stimulates the production of antibodies. Someone who is antibody negative but antigen positive has the virus but has not yet produced antibodies.

The p24 test, this is usually used for screening blood donated by doners for hiv or any other std. Think about it, if the blod is screen once, i honestly don't think they'll tell them to come back in three months time or even lock them up so they don't get busy for take injecting drugs for 3 months or so....

Yes, its true some professionals say that it should be conformatory with a 3 month test, but as explained above they don't keep tight contact with their doners.

It is also correct that the hiv antibody can take months or even years to flare up, this is where p24 or pcr is good, because it looks for the actual hiv virus, which is expensive but beneficary to the patients.

P24 accuracy is also questions, when it's is done too early, that is why pcr is done to detect hiv within 10 days but it is even more expensive than a p24 test.

Some experts say that when infected and the primary symptoms, which might not appear on some patients is 28 days which will show positive for infection, which is on the anitbody test.

p24 picks up because it looks for the actual virus not the anotibody.

To conclude what your question was, Yes it would be detected but earlier in a p24 test than in a antibody test.

In the uk if you wanta p24 privately anyway they perform a p24 test and also an antibody test.

p24 test is 99.8% accuate
antibody test is 99.9% accurate

what do you mean by puss, are you referring to white head . spots and lesion are different......if you are referring to white head that is normal in some cases it appear on people whole body but as far as i know it isn't related to hiv.....

is that his only symptom ?