Primary infection by type 1 human immunodeficiency virus: diagnosis and prognosis.

Primary infection by type 1 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is symptomatic in about 70% of cases. The acute illness is a mononucleosis-like syndrome with characteristics such as mucosal ulcerations. The duration and severity of the symptoms appear to be related to the prognosis. After reviewing the most frequent signs and symptoms of primary HIV infection, we report different prognostic studies which examined the association between the acute illness and the progression of HIV disease.