[Acute primary stage of HIV infection with documented seroconversion]

We report a 34-year-old homosexual man who developed a maculopapular, non-itchy exanthema mainly on the trunk in addition to fever up to 39.8 degrees C, general malaise, arthralgias, generalized enlargement of the lymph nodes, watery diarrhoea and weight loss. The patient was in an acute phase of the HIV infection according to standards of WHO and CDC (i.e. acute infection with duration from 3 days to 3 weeks with occasional mononucleosis-like symptoms and positive antibody tests). We documented the seroconversion from HIV-negativity to HIV-positivity 15 days after the onset of the acute illness, concomitant with the resolution of the clinical symptoms. Haematological changes were monitored during the conversion. The infection with HIV-1 was shown by the reduction of T4 helper cells (262/microliters) and the inversion of the CD4:CD8 ratio (< 0.5 during seroconversion). The patient also developed generalized candidiasis owing to the acute immunodeficiency.