Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. Mum has now switched medicines and is now taking Combivir in place of Zerit and Videx. She is still on Stocrin. Her bedsores are healing and her latest blood results showed an undetectable viral load. Her CD4 is 79 though and we desperately are trying to get this up.
She is on immune boosters, Moducare and Sutherland. Question is what does the viral load result mean and how can we get her CD4 count up???
Ross Slotten, M.D.
Klein and Slotten Medical Associates
Private Practice in Family Medicine
With a special interest in HIV disease
Your mother is getting an excellent response to the medications. In your note, you do not say what your mother's CD4 counts have been in the past. A CD4 count of 79 is very low; usually, over time, the count will rise, as long as the viral load remains undetectable. However, in some cases, the CD4 count rises only slightly, especially if the original CD4 count was low. There is an investigational medication called interleukin 2 that does raise the CD4 count, but it is unclear if it is truly beneficial. The data are still being collected. I advise your mother to remain on her current HIV medications and continue monitoring both her viral load and her CD4 count.
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