Human immunodeficiency virus belongs to retrovirus family and itself is a lentivirus which further leads our body to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. If we are looking forward to detection of its symptoms, it is very vital to first get acquainted with it. This is a condition in the human body which weakens our immune system causing lethal harms internally which show their effects on the body very late, most of the time when it gets beyond the boundary of getting cured. The virus initializes by infecting helper T cells (especially CD4+ T cells), macrophages and dendritic cells. It channelizes its activity by first attacking the cells, thereby killing them virally and then increasing the rate to a critical level.

Minor Symptoms

Initially it does not show much, which could be thought of ordinary infections and the person infected might perceive it as common cold, flu, fever, fatigue and often, rash. Other common symptoms include headache, sore throat and swollen lymph nodes. These indicants can be envisioned within days or weeks of exposure to the virus, during a period which is called primary or acute HIV infection. Many other indications similar to that of infected with HIV are mononucleosis, viral hepatitis and other sexually transmitted contagions.

Tests to be conducted for its detection

Most HIV tests do not look for the virus directly; rather they adopt a different procedure. They look for the antibodies formed as a result of infection and large number of antibodies’ presence indicates towards positive response. The antibodies take few weeks to six months for getting produced in the body even the body has been infected earlier. This is one of the grounds based on which the tests sometimes don’t show any upshot flummoxing the patient.

There are various types of tests. Some of them are listed:

• EIA or ELISA Test

This is the most common type of test performed the result can be seen within a few days to weeks. In this the blood sample is taken in the presence of a large number of antibodies and if the screening results come back positive showing the presence of antibodies, western blot is done.

• Western Blot

If the EIA and ELISA tests are positive, the sample is sent for western blot. If both of them show a positive result, the person is certainly infected with the virus. Rarely it happens that the antibodies caught, is not about HIV and being HIV positive, is just an apprehension and in this case the western blot result is negative.

• Rapid Tests

Rapid tests are advanced stage of EIA and ELISA tests. It takes only twenty minutes to diagnose the virus in the blood, unlike the primitive methodology, though it is followed by western blot too.

• At-Home Tests

Nowadays, many home kits are available all over the counter or online. If we intend to testify ourselves, all we have to do is to purchase that special prepared card followed by pricking the finger and test the drop of blood on the card and send it to a laboratory. There are many similar options available to whom we have to send the sample and they inform us on the phone with an anonymous identification number within seven days.

Other tests existing in the society are more or like similar to the above discussed tests but the lastly discussed one was almost 99.9% accurate.

John W. Simon is a professional blogger who has worked on various niches. His areas of expertise lie in the healthcare and he has written various blogs on Dentist Manchester. His articles and blogs can be read on the internet on a number of reputed article directories.