title: Correlation between baseline CD4 + T-Lymphocyte count and plasma viral load in AIDS patients and their early clinical and immunological response to HAART: a preliminary study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the clinical, immunological and virological status of newly diagnosed AIDS cases and to monitor their clinical and immunological response to HAART after a minimum period of three months. Forty three drug naive AIDS patients were enrolled. The most common presenting complaints were weight loss (74.4%), cough (72.1%) and diarrhoea (67.4%). Mean baseline CD4 cell count was 112 +/- 60 cells/microL and mean baseline plasma viral load of 31 patients studied was 192,686 copies/mL. Baseline plasma viral load was higher among patients with lower baseline CD4 cell count. During follow-up, 80.8% patients showed clinical improvement, while a CD4 cell count increased by > or =50 cells/microL in 84.6% cases. Mean CD4 cell count increased from 126 +/- 16.6 cells/microL at baseline to 278 +/- 196.7 cells/microL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi - 110 002, India. drhitender@gmail.com
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gautam
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhalla
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dewan
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D019562:Viral Load