asymptomatic stage
Last reviewed 01/2018
Begins when the symptoms of primary infection subsides. During the asymptomatic stage of HIV infection the patient is well for some or many years.
- laboratory test values may sometimes show anaemia, neutropaenia, lymphopaenia and thrombocytopaenia
- CD4 count remains over 500 cells/mm3 (1)
The virus is not latent, rather it is replicating rapidly and infecting large numbers of CD4-positive macrophages and lymphocytes. Viral load is low because the intact immune system is continually clearing infected cells.
In untreated individuals the CD4 count reduces at a rate of 40-80 cells/mm3 per year but the time taken for progression from primary infection to symptomatic disease may vary widely (1).
Persistent generalized lymphadenopathy:
- is common
- is mild and often the patient is unaware
- affects cervical, axillary and inguinal nodes symetrically
Some conditions are more common during the asymptomatic stage of HIV infection:
- recurrent herpes zoster (shingles)
- seborrhoeic dermatitis
- pruritic folliculitis
- increasing severity of pre-existing psoriasis
- more severe hypersensitivity reactions
- thrombocytopenia
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