title: Acute AIDS retrovirus infection. Definition of a clinical illness associated with seroconversion.
abstract: In the course of a prospective immunoepidemiological study of homosexual men in Sydney, seroconversion to the AIDS-associated retrovirus (ARV) was observed in 12 subjects. Review of the clinical files defined an acute infectious-mononucleosis-like illness in 11 subjects. The illness was of sudden onset, lasted from 3 to 14 days, and was associated with fevers, sweats, malaise, lethargy, anorexia, nausea, myalgia, arthralgia, headaches, sore throat, diarrhoea, generalised lymphadenopathy, a macular erythematous truncal eruption, and thrombocytopenia. In 1 subject an incubation period of 6 days after presumed exposure to ARV was determined and in 3 subjects seroconversion took place 19, 32, and 56 days after onset. Comparison of T-cell subsets before and after the acute illness showed inversion of T4:T8 ratio in 8 subjects, due to increased numbers of circulating T8+ cells. These findings support the notion of an acute clinical, immunological, and serological response to infection with ARV which should be considered in the differential diagnosis of mononucleosis-like syndromes in groups at high risk for the development of AIDS.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maclean
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Finlayson
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Michelmore
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brooke
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Penny
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000276:immunology; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007075:Immunoglobulin M