Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the body's immune system, which is responsible for fighting infections. People with untreated HIV don’t fight off infections or cancer as well as healthy people and they can more easily become sick. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the late stage of HIV infection. Without treatment, HIV will progress to AIDS.
There is no cure for either HIV or AIDS. However, if HIV is caught early the infection can be controlled. In the U.S., most people infected with HIV do not go on to develop AIDS because of the availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications that can stop the progression of the disease.
What Is the Treatment for HIV and AIDS?
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is usually treated with different combinations of antiretroviral medicines to help control HIV infection.
Early HIV infection is often treated with one of the following antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens:
- Dolutegravir plus tenofovir and either emtricitabine or lamivudine
- Bictegravir-tenofovir alafenamide-emtricitabine
- Ritonavir-boosted darunavir plus tenofovir and either emtricitabine or lamivudine
There is no cure for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) but medications are used to reduce the amount of HIV virus in the body, keep the immune system healthy, and decrease the complications of the disease that can occur.
Types of medication used to treat AIDS include:
- Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI)
- Protease inhibitors (PI)
- Fusion inhibitors
- Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)
- Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI)
What Are Symptoms of HIV and AIDS?
Early symptoms of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are referred to as primary or acute HIV infection. These symptoms usually occur two to four weeks after a person is infected with the virus and include:
- Fever
- Flu-like symptoms
- Sore throat
- Headache
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Joint pain
- Muscle pain
- Skin rash
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Lack of appetite
- Weight loss
- Dry cough
- Painful open sores or ulcers in the mouth, the esophagus, the anus, or the penis (only occurs in a small proportion of those exposed to the virus)
These first symptoms last about 2 weeks and are usually mild. Many people don’t even recognize they have HIV at this stage.
After several years, if HIV is not treated, symptoms of AIDS may occur and include:
- Swelling of lymph nodes, usually in the neck, armpits, or groin
- Recurrent fever
- Night sweats
- Stomach pain
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea that persists for more than a week
- Rapid weight loss
- Sores on the mouth, anus, or genitals
- Red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
- Memory loss, depression, and other neurologic disorders
- Other infections (opportunistic infections)
- Lung infections such as pneumonia can cause shortness of breath
- Brain infections
- Eye infections that cause trouble seeing and blurred vision
- Candidiasis of the mouth (oral thrush) that can cause soreness and raised, white patches
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