But scientists have discovered that there are three stages to the HIV/AIDS: acute, HIV inactivity/latency, and AIDS. Acute illness shows up within two to four weeks and can be described as flu-like symptoms. This is why the doctors in 1980 thought that those men had the flu. In the first few weeks, those who are infected have a large amount of virus their bodies and are highly contagious. The second stage consists of HIV dormancy in which the virus is making low levels of the virus but is still active. At this time, some people don’t have any of the symptoms, so this period can last for decades. As the viral counts start to rise in the body, the person goes into stage three. Stage three is full blown AIDS and consists of severely weakened immune systems. (cdc.gov) These people are more susceptible to opportunistic illnesses linked to HIV like PCP (a type of pneumonia), cryptococcal meningitis, and certain cancers like Kaposi’ sarcoma.
But scientists have discovered that there are three stages to the HIV/AIDS: acute, HIV inactivity/latency, and AIDS. Acute illness shows up within two to four weeks and can be described as flu-like symptoms. This is why the doctors in 1980 thought that those men had the flu. In the first few weeks, those who are infected have a large amount of virus their bodies and are highly contagious. The second stage consists of HIV dormancy in which the virus is making low levels of the virus but is still active. At this time, some people don’t have any of the symptoms, so this period can last for decades. As the viral counts start to rise in the body, the person goes into stage three. Stage three is full blown AIDS and consists of severely weakened immune systems. (cdc.gov) These people are more susceptible to opportunistic illnesses linked to HIV like PCP (a type of pneumonia), cryptococcal meningitis, and certain cancers like Kaposi’ sarcoma.