The average survival period of an AIDS patient from the time he or she first becomes infected with AIDS to his or her eventual death, without treatment, is about 10 years. After contracting AIDS, patients go through an acute phase, an asymptomatic phase, and an AIDS phase. The acute and asymptomatic phases are collectively referred to as the incubation period. The average incubation period for AIDS is about 9 years, with the longest being 15 years and the shortest being a few months. During the incubation period, patients have no obvious symptoms, but during the incubation period, patients may develop various opportunistic infections and malignant tumors due to their extremely low immune function, which may lead to death. The average survival period of patients with AIDS is only 12-18 months. To prolong the life expectancy, patients should be treated with antiviral drugs as soon as possible after the discovery of AIDS.