HIV 2 is more closely related to SIV than HIV 1. It is not known how the original transfer of virus from monkey to man took place. Symptoms include, fever, night sweats, sore throat, lymphadenopathy, diarrhoea. The illness is self limiting. Asymptomatic phase Of variable duration, from 2 to 10 years.
Patients are clinically well, but infectious.
Kaposi sarcoma, oral hairy leukoplakia, lymphomas. Kaposi sarcoma - is a tumour of endothelial cells. Prior to the AIDS epidemic, this tumuor was rare and only found in middle aged African and Mediterranean Jewish men, in whom it was an indolent condition. AIDS patients develop a disseminated highly aggressive form of the disease. Its presence in serum therefore indicates infection.