Early clinical manifestations of HIV infection

HIV infection produces a spectrum of illness from totally asymptomatic infection to AIDS. In between these two extremes, infected persons may manifest a variety of signs and symptoms. These include an acute infectious mononucleosis-like illness, progressive generalised lymphadenopathy, and numerous cutaneous and oral lesions. Whilst most of these conditions are not pathognomonic for HIV infection, certain features may indicate the possibility of an underlying HIV infection. Clinicians should be aware of these tell-tale signs.