HIV/AIDS Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Clinical latency === The initial symptoms are followed by a stage called clinical latency, asymptomatic HIV, or chronic HIV.<ref name=AIDS2010GOV/> Without treatment, this second stage of the [[Natural history of disease|natural history]] of HIV infection can last from about three years<ref>{{cite book |last=Evian |first=Clive |title=Primary HIV/AIDS care: a practical guide for primary health care personnel in a clinical and supportive setting |year=2006 |publisher=Jacana |location=Houghton [South Africa] |isbn=978-1-77009-198-6 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WauaC7M0yGcC&pg=PA29 |edition=Updated 4th |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911043536/https://books.google.com/books?id=WauaC7M0yGcC&pg=PA29 |archive-date=September 11, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> to over 20 years<ref>{{cite book |last=Hicks |first=Charles B. |editor1-last=Reeders |editor1-first=Jacques W.A.J. |editor2-last=Goodman |editor2-first=Philip Charles |title=Radiology of AIDS |year=2001 |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin [u.a.] |isbn=978-3-540-66510-6 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmFBtyPGOQIC&pg=PA19 |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509101646/https://books.google.com/books?id=xmFBtyPGOQIC&pg=PA19 |archive-date=May 9, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> (on average, about eight years).<ref>{{cite book |last=Elliott |first=Tom |title=Lecture Notes: Medical Microbiology and Infection |year=2012 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-118-37226-5 |page=273 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4q3AyDQIUYC&pg=PA273 |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919014154/https://books.google.com/books?id=M4q3AyDQIUYC&pg=PA273 |archive-date=September 19, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> While typically there are few or no symptoms at first, near the end of this stage many people experience fever, weight loss, gastrointestinal problems and muscle pains.<ref name=AIDS2010GOV/> Between 50% and 70% of people also develop [[persistent generalized lymphadenopathy]], characterized by unexplained, non-painful enlargement of more than one group of lymph nodes (other than in the groin) for over three to six months.<ref name=M121/> Although most [[HIV-1]] infected individuals have a detectable viral load and in the absence of treatment will eventually progress to AIDS, a small proportion (about 5%) retain high levels of [[CD4]]<SUP>+</SUP> T cells ([[T helper cell]]s) without [[Management of HIV/AIDS|antiretroviral therapy]] for more than five years.<ref name=M118/><ref name=LT2010/> These individuals are classified as "HIV controllers" or [[long-term nonprogressors]] (LTNP).<ref name=LT2010>{{cite journal |vauthors=Blankson JN |title=Control of HIV-1 replication in elite suppressors |journal=Discovery Medicine |volume=9 |issue=46 |pages=261–66 |date=March 2010 |pmid=20350494}}</ref> Another group consists of those who maintain a low or undetectable viral load without anti-retroviral treatment, known as "elite controllers" or "elite suppressors".<!--<ref name=Walker2007/> --> They represent approximately 1 in 300 infected persons.<ref name=Walker2007>{{cite journal |vauthors=Walker BD |title=Elite control of HIV Infection: implications for vaccines and treatment |journal=Topics in HIV Medicine |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=134–36 |date=August–September 2007 |pmid=17720999}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page