title: Managing HIV. Part 4: Primary therapy. 4.3 The laboratory in managing HIV infection.
abstract: The CD4 cell count is a useful guide to the clinical stages of HIV infection, although it is only an indirect measure of viral activity. More direct measures of viral load will eventually become part of clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW Australia.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Dwyer
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adelstein
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Merigan
mesh_terms: D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000097:blood; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D019798:Neopterin; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D012367:RNA, Viral; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin; D001708:Biopterins; D019798:Neopterin