Are there any visible signs that a person is HIV positive?
Question:
Answers:
loss of appetite cough
sores or white patches in the mouth or on the tongue
purple blotches or bumps on the skin that looks like bruises but does not disappear
confusion,forgetfulness
dementia
weight loss
fever
night sweats
diarrhea
painful or difficulty swallowing
tiredness,extreme or constant
skin rashes
swollen glands in the neck,underarms,and groin
Yes, there are a few.
The earliest symptoms of HIV infection occur while your body begins to form antibodies to the virus (known as seroconversion) between six weeks and three months after infection with the HIV virus. Those who do show early HIV symptoms will develop flu-like symptoms. This can include: fever, rash, muscles aches and swollen lymph nodes and glands. However, for most people, the first symptoms of HIV will not be apparent.
Although the infection is slowly taking hold of your body, the majority of those infected with HIV will be asymptomatic. Only by being tested for HIV can you know for sure if you have been infected. Yet, despite the absence of HIV symptoms, you are still highly contagious during this time making it very much a possibility to infect others.
HIV/AIDS Symptoms
As the infection progresses, people with HIV grow increasingly susceptible to illnesses and infection that don’t normally affect the healthy population. Even though many of these illnesses can easily be treated, those with HIV often have such weakened immune systems that typical cures fail.
Without treatment, people infected with HIV can expect to develop AIDS eight to ten years after HIV infection. Taking HIV medications, however, can slow down this progression. With treatment, it can take ten to 15 years or more before you develop AIDS. In the later stages of HIV, before it progresses to full blown AIDS, signs of HIV infection can involve more severe symptoms. These include:
chronic yeast infections or thrush (yeast infection of the mouth)
Fever and/or night sweats
Easy bruising
Bouts of extreme exhaustion
Unexplained body rashes
Appearance of purplish lesions on the skin or inside mouth
Sudden unexplained weight loss
Chronic diarrhea lasting for a month or more
Good luck!
Any visible signs might not show you for years after an infection. The only way to know for sure is to get tested. Some people are asymptomatic for 10 years.
No it is only after a number of years and it developes in to aids is when a person starts getting signs.
only in the later stages of the disease
The basic answer to your question is NO. The symptoms that are experienced are general and non-specific.
I would like to clarify one point of accwow's answer. Everything is correct, except the early signs of acute infection (Acute retroviral syndrome, ARS) usually appear 2-4 weeks after the initial infection and these symptoms are often mild and non-specific (don't point to a specific illness, it could be many things). The symptoms of ARS are usually self-limiting meaning they go away on their own. They can last 1-2 weeks usually, but may last for more than a month.
Most people with ARS (probably about 90% of people actually experience it) , experience symptoms so mild that usually don't remember it (only about 50% remember experiencing ARS)
From your question it seem like you are either looking for explanations of your own symptoms, or you are trying to find out if you can tell by looking at someone if they are HIV+ or not.
If it is for you, get a test. It's the only way to tell.
There is no way, regardless of what others have said above, to tell if someone is HIV+ or not. A lot of the symptoms they are referring to in the later stages have been limited with the help of new medicines and the experiences listed above by accwow aren't experienced all at once and not every HIV+ person will experience all of these. HIV disease (especially the last two stages (symptomatic and AIDS) is more like a roller coaster than any disease I have seen. So people can be completely health for months, then sick for a while, then back to healthy. It really is a horrible aspect of the disease.
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