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What symptoms can occur during primary HIV infection?
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AIDS
Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 virions (green) budding from a cultured lymphocyte. Multiple round bumps on the cell surface represent sites of virion assembly and budding.
During the primary stage of HIV infection, the virus replicates rapidly, and many individuals experience an acute, flulike illness that typically persists for one to two weeks.12
Symptoms that may occur during this phase include:
- Fever1
- Enlarged lymph nodes1
- Sore throat1
- Muscle and joint pain1
- Rash1
- Malaise1
These symptoms develop in approximately 50 to 90 percent of infected individuals, usually appearing two to four weeks after exposure. Because these signs can resemble other common illnesses, such as mononucleosis, many people do not initially realize they have been infected. During this time, standard HIV tests are often negative because antibodies to the virus have not yet reached detectable levels in the blood.21