Signs and Symptoms

Signs and Symptoms

A lot of people do not have any symptoms when they become infected with HIV.

If you become infected with HIV, you are likely to develop a short-lived illness called Primary HIV Infection. This is also called Sero conversion illness
Sero conversion generally takes places within a few weeks of initial infection. For information on how HIV can enter your body click here.

The symptoms of sero conversion illness are like those of flu, and usually include:

• fever
• aches in the joints and muscles
• fatigue
• headache
• swollen glands, often in the groin
• sore throat
• nausea
• diarrhoea.

If you develop these symptoms and realise that you have been at risk of HIV infection recently, it might be a good idea to think about having an HIV test. Remember also if you have put yourself at risk you may not develop any of the above symptoms. These symptoms are not a reliable way to identify sero conversion or to diagnose HIV infection. The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to go for a test.

There are several advantages to being tested early on in the course of HIV infection:

• You have much more time to get used to living with HIV before you have to start taking treatment permanently.
• You can monitor your health effectively.
• You are more infectious during this period, and much more likely to pass HIV on to your partners, so knowing your status can help you to avoid passing HIV on to others.

Late diagnosis is a serious problem in relation to health complications and HIV related deaths, and therefore, the earlier you are diagnosed the more likely you are to be able to manage the infection and lead a healthier life.
See the testing section of our website for more information about sexual health testing across Northern Ireland.

Window Periods

The window period is the time during which markers of infection may not be detectable.
Due to the window period, you may be advised to test three months after the initial risk.
For this reason if your most recent risk of getting HIV was within the last three months you can test straight away – but you’ll be advised to test again a few weeks later so that a recent infection isn’t missed. The testing clinic will talk this over with you in more detail.
If your last risk was over 3 months ago you’ll only need to test once.

It’s best not to delay testing. Clinics will be happy to test you at any time. HIV tests now detect infections quicker, often just a few weeks after someone gets infected.

If you’ve put yourself at risk within the last 72 hours you can always access PEP which can stop the infection taking hold.

It is important to remember that the antibodies can take up to twelve weeks after infection to show, so if you have knowingly put yourself at risk you would need to wait for this ‘window period’ to pass before going for a test. An earlier test may not give a correct result. If the test finds these antibodies then you are said to be HIV positive, similarly if no antibodies are found then you are HIV negative.