At this age, the cottontails still cannot live without motherâs milk. 3 day old cottontail (right) next to 14 day old cottontail (left) Seven to Nine Days Old: Similar to a 4-5 day old cottontail, there should not be too much difference at this stage. Eyes should be beginning to open and may look like little slits.
In doing so, the virus destroys the ability of the infected cells to do their job in the immune system. The body then loses the ability to fight many infections. When a person with HIV has an extremely low number of CD4 cells or certain rare infections, doctors call this stage of disease AIDS.
The immune system is gradually disrupted. HIV kills cells in the lymph nodes (small glands filled with immune cells that trap foreign organisms) and in other sites. This throws the immune system out of balance. Virus levels in the blood and the lymph nodes increase because the immune system cannot keep up with the amount of virus constantly produced. HIV constantly changes itself, avoiding attack by the antibodies and immune cells that normally control infections. Each generation of viruses is slightly different.