A damaged immune system affects each person differently. One person may get certain symptoms or infections and may get another completely different ones. You will not get all of them. You may not get any. Men and women, children and adults, and people from different parts of the world get different kinds of infections. And you may still get ordinary colds and flus.
At that time, AIDS seemed to be a condition that killed people very quickly. Those people had probably been living with HIV for many years without showing any symptoms. And, when they did get sick, there were very few treatments available.
Now it is known that most people can live with HIV for many years without showing any signs of illness. And when people with HIV do get sick, there are many new treatments that can help control and prevent infections. Although there’s still no cure, it’s important to remember that lots of progress has been made in managing HIV / AIDS.
Other conditions
People who have HIV / AIDS can also develop other conditions that may or may not be caused by a germ. These include cancer of the cervix, Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), lymphoma (cancer of the lymph system), wasting, AIDS dementia complex (ADC), and skin problems.