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AIDS/HIV and nose bleed

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Expert: - 7/9/2009


Question
QUESTION: Hello. I have read stuff about nosebleeds being a symptom of HIV/AIDS. Is this something that would occur within a year or two after infection, or would it take years, like when a person almost has AIDS? Thank you

ANSWER: Thanks Mike,

As far as I know, some people who become infected with HIV do not notice any immediate change in their health. However, some suffer from a brief flu-like illness within a few weeks of becoming infected, or develop a rash or swollen glands. These symptoms do not indicate the development of AIDS, and they usually disappear within a few days or weeks (AVART, 2009).

According to Health Encyplidia (2009), when this destruction has progressed to a critical point, symptoms of AIDS appear. These symptoms are as follows:


1. extreme fatigue
2. rapid weight loss from an unknown cause (more than 10 lbs. in two months for no reason)
3. appearance of swollen or tender glands in the neck, armpits or groin, for no apparent reason, lasting for more than four weeks
4. unexplained shortness of breath, frequently accompanied by a dry cough, not due to allergies or smoking
5. persistent diarrhea
6. intermittent high fever or soaking night sweats of unknown origin
7. a marked change in an illness pattern, either in frequency, severity, or length of sickness
8. appearance of one or more purple spots on the surface of the skin, inside the mouth, anus or nasal passages
9. whitish coating on the tongue, throat or vagina
10. forgetfulness, confusion and other signs of mental deterioration

And nose-bleeding is not among these symptoms.

It can take as short as a year to as long as 10 to 15 years to go from being infected with HIV to "full-blown" AIDS.

Best regards,
Gorkey

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How would it take as short as a year to go from HIV to full-blown AIDS? Is it common for that to happen?

Answer
Hello Mike,

Thanks and welcome again. Progression of viral infection to full-blown AIDS in advanced stages of HIV infection. The difference between HIV and AIDS is that HIV is a virus, while AIDS is a medical condition.

Duration of being full-blown to AIDS basically depend on one's immune system, habit, physical strength and genetic makeup.

Best regards,
Gorkey

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Gorkey Gourab

Expertise

Social and behavioral issues related to HIV transmission, sexually transmitted infections, Human Rights issues, rights of marginalized populations, gender and sexuality, research design and analysis related social & behavioral issues, , computer assisted qualitative data analysis and data management (using ATLAS.ti, ANTHROPAC, NVivo 8)

Experience

Specialized in Medical Anthropology. Working on Social and behavioral studies related to HIV transmission as well as Human Rights issues. Specialization in gender, sexuality, masculinity, behavioral studies related to HIV transmission. Qualitative research, programmatic and M&E experience with MSM, hijra (TG), indigenous groups, female sex workers for more than 7 years.

Organizations
International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) as Manager - M&E (Qualitative) with Center for HIV and AIDS

Publications
International peer-reviewed journals & technical papers: (1) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Parveen, S., Bhuiyan, M. I., Gourab, G., & Bhuiya, A. (2009). Living on the extreme margin: Social exclusion of the hijra in Bangladesh. Journal of health, population and nutrition. (2) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Gourab, G., Parveen, S., Bhuiyan, M. I., & Sikder, J. (2008). Not to stigmatize but to humanize sexual lives of the transgender (hijra): condom chat in the AIDS era. Journal of LGBT Health Research (Special issue: issues on male sexual behaviors and HIV risk in South Asia). Working papers: (1) Khan, S. I., Gourab, G., Ahmed, T., Sarker, G. F., Chowdhury, F. K., Ghosh, S., et al. (2009). Understanding the operational dynamics and possible HIV interventions for residence-based female sex workers in two divisional cities in Bangladesh. Dhaka, Bangladesh: NASP, Save the Children USA and icddr,b. Presentations in scientific meetings and conferences: (1) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Gourab, G. & Azim, T. (2011, 16 March 2011). Use of a new approach to count and access diverse groups of hijra for scaling up HIV-preventions services in Bangladesh. Poster presented at the 13th Annual Scientific Conference (ASCON XIII), Dhaka. (2) Khan, S. I., Pasa, K., Gourab, G., & Islam, A. (2007). Indigenous populations of Bangladesh: Living with risks and vulnerabilities to STIs/HIV. 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP). Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Education/Credentials
MSS (Anthropology), University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Awards and Honors
The Vanderbilt-UAB Fogarty International Center AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP)Scholarship for the training on HIV-AIDS related qualitative data analysis and manuscript writing (Center for Global Health, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA)

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