Infection

• Although it may take 10 years or more for serious symptoms of HIV-disease to develop, HIV begins its assault on the immune system from the moment of infection onward.
  
  

Features

• HIV invades cells of the immune system, specifically those called the CD4 T-cells. HIV incorporates its genetic material into that of these host cells so that, instead of participating in the immune response, these cells produce more copies of HIV.
  
  

Symptomatic HIV

• Symptomatic HIV occurs before AIDS but after the immune system has been damaged badly by HIV. Symptomatic HIV includes chronic flu-like symptoms along with night sweats, weight loss, fungal infections and breathing difficulties.
  
  

AIDS Diagnosis

• When the effects of HIV cause the CD4 cell count to fall below 200 (in a cubic milliliter of blood), AIDS is diagnosed in people with HIV.
  
  

Effects

• AIDS is a syndrome, meaning it is marked by several conditions. These include opportunistic infections (illnesses the immune system cannot fight off in its weakened state), severe weight loss, cancers of the cervix, immune system and skin, and neurological problems, such as dementia.