Because of this, the medical research community has focused on understanding the disease during the last decade. General Description . HIV causes a progressive immunodeficiency, which can develop over the course of a decade. Acute infection may be relatively nonspecific in its manifestations imitating a mononucleosis or flu-like syndrome. Both cause severe immunodeficiency and neurologic disease.
Related viruses cause similar diseases in cats and monkeys.
HIV infection may be suspected in any patient exhibiting manifestations of immunodeficiency in the absence of an apparent etiology. The incidence rate of transmission by heterosexual contact is increasing while the transmission rate by homosexual contact has leveled off or is declining. Definitive diagnosis of HIV infection is made by the detection of serum antibodies to the HIV retrovirus. In this method the serum components are separated on a polyacrylamide gel, by size distribution, and the size and pattern of reactive antigens confirms the presence of HIV in the blood. Since the method is extremely sensitive, caution must be taken in performing the test to ensure that contaminating material from the laboratory does not lead to false results.