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.
Immune restoration means repairing the damage done to the immune system by HIV. In a healthy immune system, there is a full range of CD4 cells (T-cells, see fact sheet 124) that can fight different diseases. As HIV disease progresses, the number of CD4 cells drops. The first CD4 cells that HIV attacks are the ones that specifically fight HIV.