Because HIV symptoms mirror so many other viral infections or can be explained by other things, we do not go by symptoms here at AIDS Vancouver. 3) One final note about symptoms: HIV symptoms, for the most part, are only present during the period of seroconversion, which is only 2-6 weeks post exposure. These symptoms do not last past this period. Sometimes when we focus too much on HIV, we forget about other issues that have to do with our body.