How long does it take to show symptoms of HIV?

Something happens. Maybe a condom breaks. Maybe a needle isn’t as sterile as you thought it was. Or maybe you just realise you weren’t as safe as you could’ve been.

In the dizzying hours after your realisation, you may wonder what might’ve happened, and what danger you might be in. Could you have gotten an STI? Chlamydia? Gonorrhoea? Maybe even HIV? How might it have happened? And if so, how soon until you know?

13% of people who have HIV don’t know that they have it.

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The danger of relying on symptoms

Most people think that if they have an STI, they’ll know it. Why? Because they’ll have symptoms.

While this is an understandable assumption, it’s completely wrong.

If you get almost any STI, from Herpes and Trichomonas to Hepatitis B and Syphilis, you probably won’t know, especially in the first few weeks of the infection.

It’s estimated that around 50% of all STIs don’t show any symptoms, which is why genital itching, nausea, and sores are a terrible gauge to know if you’re infected. The only way to know for sure is to get tested.

Unfortunately, many people don’t know this. In 2025, over 45% of all testing appointments with Better2Know occurred on a Monday or Tuesday, a strong indicator that patients often monitor potential symptoms over the weekend before seeking professional answers.

What’s more, only one in ten patients explicitly seeks testing using our 10-Day PCR test, meaning the vast majority wait out the initial weeks of the incubation period for HIV.

Exactly 90% of Better2know patients booking specific HIV tests opt for the standard 28-day Ab/Ag test, aligning with the clinical window when symptoms and antibodies typically manifest.

What are the symptoms of HIV?

Even though most people don’t experience initial symptoms of HIV in the early days of infection, some do. To understand this better, we’re going to break down symptoms of HIV into two categories: acute and chronic.

Acute

The acute stage of an HIV infection refers to the first few weeks after you get it. During this time, about two-thirds of people who get HIV will experience flu-like symptoms like nausea, fever, swollen lymph nodes, mouth ulcers, fatigue, muscle aches, rash, and a sore throat.

However, some people never experience any symptoms at all. About 13% of people who have HIV don’t know that they have it. The symptoms of HIV can also differ between men and women.

During this stage, there’s a fairly high amount of HIV in your blood. This can make you very contagious. The levels of HIV in your blood will affect your long-term health.

Over the next few weeks, your immune system fights back, bullying the virus back into a latent phase. If the infection is left untreated, however, it can lead to a chronic infection.

Chronic

A chronic HIV infection can cause serious damage to your body. As the virus continues to reproduce in your bloodstream, it attacks your CD4 cells – killer cells that help you fight off other infections. Over time, as the infection progresses, your body’s ability to produce these killer cells declines. Slowly, infections that your body would’ve easily fought off before start to cause serious issues for you.

People with a chronic HIV infection may experience a host of other symptoms, including difficulty sleeping, unintentional weight loss, chronic diarrhoea, skin rashes, increased levels of thrush infections and Herpes sores, and significant fatigue.

Eventually, HIV can lead to AIDS, which is often fatal.

How to test for HIV

Getting tested for HIV couldn’t be easier. All that’s needed is a simple blood test. But there are a couple of different options that you have.

Instant test

Instant HIV tests are the gold standard of HIV testing, giving patients the valuable information they need about their sexual health. These tests are conducted in clinics with equipment that processes test samples on the spot. The test will look for both antibodies and the p24 HIV antigen, giving you an HIV test result you can rely on. People who do instant testing will receive their results within 30 minutes of submitting their samples. You need to wait at least 28 days from the date you think you were exposed for this test to be accurate.

10-Day test

Anyone who wants to get tested as early as possible for HIV can get a 10-day test. This test looks for HIV-1 viral RNA in your blood. This test allows you to get tested for HIV just 10 days after the incident of concern.

28-Day test

This 28-day test uses antibody and antigen testing to determine your HIV status with 99.8% accuracy. It can be taken 28 days after the initial infection.

What happens if I test positive?

Getting a positive test result for HIV can be distressing. But it’s important to remember that HIV is very treatable. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can help suppress the virus to undetectable and untransferable levels, making it possible for you to live a long and healthy life.