At the time of diagnosis, individuals may manifest with either:
- no detectable antibody (serologically negative)
- have detectable antibody against HIV (serologically positive) but asymptomatic
- early stage of HIV disease
- AIDs
HIV progression occurs over three stages: Initial phase, Middle (Clinical Latency) phase and Late phase (AIDs)
Initial phase (primary infection)
- HIV levels in plasma start to increase
- CD4+ T Lymphocyte Count starts to decline resulting in flu-like symptoms called antiretroviral syndrome
- Body starts to make antibodies against HIV, levels of HIV in plasma start to decline and CD4+ count starts to increase
- No presenting symptoms
- HIV levels start to increase again and CD4+ levels start to decline
- Once CD4+ levels fall to a level of 200μl per unit of plasma, the patient is diagnosed with AIDs