Serious Complications
Associated With The HIV Virus

The sad thing about the HIV and AIDS virus is that it is silent but deadly.  You can be infected with the HIV virus for more than ten years before the signs and symptoms begin showing up in your body.  The HIV virus works at slowly destroying your immune system that makes you susceptible for infections that a healthy body could fight off.  These opportunistic infections and cancers attack the body because it doesn’t have the immune cells to fight these conditions.   

One of the most common complications can be bacterial pneumonia.  This is the disease that most people will get while living with the HIV or AIDS.  There are many different bacteria that can cause bacterial pneumonia.  It can develop on its own, or it can follow a simple upper respiratory infection, cold, or the flu. 

Tuberculosis is another dangerous and serious complication AIDS patients can develop.  It is the leading cause of death among patients who have AIDS.  Millions of AIDS patients have tuberculosis and it is considered a worldwide pandemic.  These two diseases are similar in nature and having HIV makes you more susceptible to TB.  If an HIV patient gets TB, they are more likely to progress from the dormant stage to active AIDS.  If the patient already has TB, it puts them more at risk for developing HIV if they have been exposed.  In fact, one of the first signs that a patient has AIDS is if they develop TB.  This is especially true if TB is found outside the lungs.

Did You Know? 

If you have been diagnosed as HIV positive, you should have a simple skin test to discover if you have TB early into your medical care.  Today, someone in the world develops TB one every second and there are 5000 to 6000 deaths attributed to TB every day of the year.  If you are HIV positive, you should be sure to tell your sexual partners so they can protect themselves.  Your doctor can run tests to measure progress the disease.  The test measures the viral load in the body and those who have a higher level will fare worse than others with higher levels.

Positive TB tests should be followed with a chest x-ray to find out if the TB is active or inactive.  If it is still inactive, there are medications and treatments that can prevent TB from developing in the future.  TB can be passed to another person when a person sneezes, and other personal contact.  This disease is highly contagious.  It is a concern to the world because even healthy people can develop tuberculosis.

Mycobaterium aviumcomplex or MAX is caused by a group of bacteria that cause an infection in the respiratory tract.  If you have advanced HIV infection or your CD4 count is below 50, you could develop an infection that can attack any part of the body, including the spleen, liver, and bone marrow.  It can cause symptoms such as severe night sweats, fever, stomach pain, and diarrhea.