The value of haematological screening for AIDS in an at risk population.
The haematological variables measured by automated full blood count in matched homosexual and heterosexual men attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) were compared with those of normal controls and patients infected with the human T lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III). Homosexual and heterosexual men were statistically identical for all variables, but both differed noticeably from patients with clinical diagnoses of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS related disease. A full blood count as a screening test for AIDS is only interpretable in the context of clinical assessment.
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D017977:Deltaretrovirus; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000097:blood; D012306:Risk