Symptoms and Prevention of AIDS

Symptoms of AIDS

Clinical stages of HIV / AIDS by WHO
The World Health Organization in 1990 developed a clinical classification of HIV / AIDS, which was last significantly supplemented and updated in 2006 and published for European countries on December 1, 2006 in the “WHO Protocols for the Treatment and Prevention of HIV / AIDS”.

WHO clinical stages for adults and adolescents ≥ 15 years:

  • Acute HIV infection
    – Asymptomatic
    – Acute retroviral syndrome
  • Clinical stage 1
    – Asymptomatic
    – Persistent generalized lymphadenopathy (PGL)
  • Clinical stage 2
    – Seborrheic dermatitis
    – Angular cheilitis
    – Recurrent oral ulcers (two or more episodes within 6 months)
    – Shingles (common herpes)
    – Recurrent respiratory tract infections – sinusitis, otitis media, pharyngitis, bronchitis, tracheitis, (two or more episodes within 6 months)
    – Fungal nail infections
    – Papular itchy dermatitis
  • Clinical stage 3
    – Hairy leukoplakia of the mouth
    – Unexplained chronic diarrhea lasting more than 1 month
    – Recurrent oral candidiasis (two or more episodes within 6 months)
    – Severe bacterial infection (pneumonia, empyema, purulent myositis, bone or joint infections, meningitis, bacteremia)
    – Acute necrotizing stomatitis, gingivitis or periodontitis
  • Clinical stage 4 (*)
    – Pulmonary tuberculosis
    – Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (excluding lymphadenopathy)
    – Unexplained weight loss (more than 10% within 6 months)
    – HIV wasting syndrome
    – Pneumocystis pneumonia
    – Severe or radiologically confirmed pneumonia (two or more episodes within 6 months)
    – Cytomegalovirus retinitis (with or without colitis)
    – herpes simplex virus (HSV) (chronic or persistent for more than 1 month)
    – Encephalopathy
    – Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
    – Kaposi’s sarcoma and other HIV-related malignant neoplasms
    – Toxoplasmosis
    – Disseminated fungal infection (candidiasis, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis)
    – Cryptosporidiosis
    – Cryptococcal meningitis
    – Infection caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria, disseminated mycobacterium (MOTT)

(*) If supported by sufficient evidence may include: anal carcinoma and lymphoma (T-cell Hodgkin’s lymphoma)