All You Need To Know About HIV Test






What is HIV?

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an infection that targets the immune system, especially CD4 cells, which are white blood cells. HIV kills CD4 cells, making a person more vulnerable to opportunistic infections including TB and fungal infections, as well as serious bacterial infections and certain malignancies.

HIV is a sexually transmitted virus that affects both men and women (STI). It can also be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding by contact with contaminated blood. It might take years without medicine for HIV to damage your immune system to the point where you develop AIDS. Although there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, medicines can significantly reduce the disease's development. In many wealthy countries, these medicines have lowered AIDS fatalities.

AIDS is a disease that can develop in HIV-positive individuals. This is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. However, just because someone carries HIV does not indicate they will get AIDS. HIV can develop into AIDS in a decade if left untreated. AIDS has no cure at the moment, and without treatment, a person's life expectancy after diagnosis is around three years.

If the person gets a severe opportunistic illness, this time frame may be reduced. Treatment with antiretroviral medicines, on the other hand, can prevent the development of AIDS. If AIDS develops, it indicates that the immune system has been significantly weakened, to the point that it can no longer respond effectively to most illnesses and infections.
Symptoms of HIV

Within two to four weeks of the virus entering the body, some HIV patients experience a flu-like sickness. Primary (acute) HIV infection is a short-term disease that might last a few weeks. The following are examples of possible indications and symptoms:

  1. Rash
  2. Fever
  3. Loss of weight
  4. Night sweats
  5. Headache
  6. Painful mouth sores
  7. Diarrhea
  8. Persistent cough
  9. Inflamed lymph glands

When you get AIDS, your immune system is seriously harmed. You'll be more susceptible to opportunistic infections and malignancies, which are illnesses that would not normally cause sickness in someone with a robust immune system. Some of these illnesses may cause the following signs and symptoms:

  1. Recurring fever
  2. Skin rashes
  3. Chills and sweats
  4. Severe diarrhea
  5. The sudden and persistent onset of fatigue
  6. Weakness
  7. Types of HIV Test
  8. Antigen or antibody test

Blood is generally drawn from a vein for antibody testing. Antigens are components of the HIV virus that are generally detected in the blood — a positive test — after a few weeks of HIV contact.

When your immune system is exposed to HIV, it produces antibodies. Antibodies might take weeks or months to become detectable. It might take two to six weeks for the combined antigen/antibody tests to turn positive following exposure.

Nucleic acid tests (NAT)

These tests seek for the virus itself in your bloodstream (viral load). They also need the use of blood taken from a vein. Your doctor may suggest NAT if you have been exposed to HIV in the last several weeks. After being exposed to HIV, the first test to go positive will be NAT.

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