How HIV Progresses & How You Can Prevent It

How HIV Progresses & How You Can Prevent It

A healthy person has CD4 counts ranging from 500 to 1600 cells/mm3 of blood. A person with AIDS has the count below 200 cells/mm3. HIV destroys CD4 cells, which are an important part of the immunity system. The cells safeguard the body against opportunistic infections.

However, you don’t develop AIDS as soon as you get infected with HIV. “Now that’s a good thing because, you can say, the virus gives you a chance to do something about it,” remarks a doctor at the Arlington clinic.

Please remember that you reach the stage of AIDS only when you do nothing about the HIV infection.

So what to do?

Get tested for HIV in Arlington. Your nearest STD clinic gives you the opportunity to undergo a test in an anonymous manner. This is a huge respite. The social stigma attached with HIV is one of the main reasons people skip a test.

What will people say?

What if somebody comes to know I went for HIV test?

My friends and family will abandon me if I am HIV+.

These and other such thoughts hold back a person from testing. Thanks to Arlington clinic, now you can undergo testing and billing by keeping your identity confidential.

How HIV progresses

HIV progresses into AIDS when it is left untreated. This often happens when a person skips a test. You may not always get symptoms. Some people get skin rash, fever, and other such similar symptoms, but they simply take treatment for the symptoms. You don’t always relate rash and fever to HIV, do you?

The beginning

It all starts with an acute infection that develops within 15-30 days of exposure. The virus multiples rapidly at this stage. The virus starts destroying the CD4 cells. That’s the reason your body reacts through skin eruptions, fever, and flu-like symptoms. It is trying to tell you that there is an invasion inside.

According to doctors, you must get tested for HIV in Arlington at this stage. This implies that you must undergo a test within a couple of weeks or a month of having unprotected sex.

As doctors put it, you know better about your sexual behavior. So, if you have had unprotected sex with a new partner and then develop the early stage symptoms, then it’s common sense to get tested.

The latency

Clinical latency happens after the initial stage symptoms subside. The virus is still in your blood, but at a low level. The acute infection turns into chronic infection. A patient can stay in this stage for a decade or more!

It’s still not late to undergo a test and treatment. As soon as the doctor puts you on antiretroviral therapy (ART), you get a new lease of life. The virus continues to stay latent in your body with a suppressed load. You can spend a lifetime in this stage without infecting others when you are on ART.

AIDS

AIDS happen to individuals who did not undergo test and failed to get a treatment. This is an unfortunate thing to happen, especially when medical science has advanced to a level that it can prevent HIV infection to turn into AIDS.

Ladies and gentlemen, do not be the unfortunate one. Make the most of medical science therapies. ART is a promising therapy that does not let HIV infection reach the final stage, which is AIDS.

Wondering how to get tested for HIV in Arlington?

Just walk in your nearest clinic and ask for a test. No appointment or doctor’s prescription is required. The clinic is open all days of the week. It provides testing and treatment on the same day.