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typically, HIV takes between 5-11 years to develop into AIDS


The time from infection to clinical AIDS can be as short as two years or less. The clinical definition of AIDS has changed quite a bit over the years so it’s hard to compare today’s statistics to those in the mid-1980s, but I know some short periods were seen then. If your immune system is already in bad shape then HIV may not have much more to do...

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AIDS is when ur immune system has been totally destroyed and cannot fight anything anymore...AIDS happens because the HIV virus has been in ur body for the above mentioned 5-11 years


HIV attacks, replicates in, and destroys immune system cells called CD4+ T helper cells. These cells are gradually destroyed, faster than they can be replaced. I think the modern clinical definition of AIDS is when the CD4+ T cell count falls to 20% normal. At that point opportunistic infections begin to be more likely to succeed. Your life expectancy would probably be measured in hours if the count of these cells actually fell to zero.

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Having HIV does not absolutely 100% guarantee that you will have AIDS after a few years, but you can take it for granted that AIDS will come around sooner or later if you carry thr HIV virus in you.


There are HIV carriers who do not develop AIDS. They have an apparently-harmless genetic “defect” that causes the CD4+ T cells to lack a cell wall marker HIV uses to enter the cell. HIV can then replicate only poorly in some phages and is never able to cause illness since the immune system remains intact. These people are sometimes referred to as “asymptomatic long term non-progressors” in scientific papers (calling someone an AIDS carrier sounds really bad).

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there are certain medicines available that will DELAY..NOT CURE BUT DELAY, the symptoms of AIDS...note that the HIV virus DOES NOT GET KILLED by these medicines and these medicines are very expensive and like chemotherapy....can have bad side effects.


I’m a little fuzzy here but as I recall the drugs can completely suppress all HIV activity. The problem is that HIV has already integrated itself into the DNA of some very long-lived cells that may stay dormant for many years, as long as your natural lifespan. Once the drugs are stopped then as dormant cells gradually activate the infection resumes. There is no way to remove HIV from the DNA of infected cells.
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