A person who is infected with HIV will likely not experience any symptoms right away. The virus needs time to enter the body and begin producing antibodies, which generally occurs six weeks to three months after the initial infection.

When symptoms begin to appear, the infected individual is likely not to consider these as warning signs because they are the similar to the flu. The severity and length of symptoms can vary greatly but they include: fever, rash, sore muscles, and a swelling in the lymph nodes and/or glands. It is important to understand that although symptoms may be few or nonexistent, the infected person is still contagious and can easily transmit the virus to other people.

As the virus begins to produce more antibodies, the individual will start to notice symptoms that are less common and therefore, more noticeable. These include: recurring yeast infections or thrush, (which is a yeast infection appearing in the mouth), fever accompanied by night sweats although these can occur on their own as well, bruising of the body, extended exhaustion, rashes with unknown causes, lesions purplish in color that appear on the insides of the mouth or on the skin, weight loss, and diarrhea which can appear for one month or longer.

You should get tested for HIV or AIDS if you:  

• had unprotected sexual intercourse
  
• shared a needle (drugs, body piercing, tattoos, etc)
• had many sexual partners
• learned your sexual partner is infected with HIV
• learned that you or your partner has been exposed to HIV
• have recently been diagnosed with another STD

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There are three ways to be tested for HIV. A blood sample can be taken from the arm, a swab of the mouth can determine through the fluids in the mouth if the virus is present, or a urine sample can be given. The three different methods test for the same thing. Once HIV has entered the body, it begins to produce antibodies. The test will not look for HIV/AIDS  itself but instead, will look for antibodies. If the test shows that HIV antibodies are present, the sample will be sent for testing again using a different test method. Being tested orally can take as little as twenty minutes whereas some testing, such as testing the urine, could take several weeks.

A positive test will determine that there are antibodies present in the system. This does mean that the patient has HIV but it does not mean that the sickness has progressed to AIDS or that they will soon become sick. Many people live with HIV for years before they start showing signs of sickness. A negative test will show that there were no antibodies shown in the system. However, if a person has been at risk for infection within the past six months of getting the test, they could still have HIV but the virus has not yet created enough antibodies for the test to determine they are present. A person should then be tested again in another three months.