Question:

My brother just told us he has AIDS. He said he has been HIV positive for the last 15 years. He has these sores all over his back. I'd like to know if this is the later stages of AIDS? Could you please help us ?? Any info would be appreciated.

Answer provided by:

Daniel Lee, M. D.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
UCSD Medical Center
Owen Clinic

First of all, I'm very sorry to hear that your brother has AIDS. It is always difficult to hear about bad news, especially regarding family members. From the limited information you have provided, it is very difficult for me to say how advanced his disease is or may be. Having sores on his back could be due to a variety of conditions, but without seeing him, it is difficult to say what those sores may represent. Your best bet is to talk to his HIV doctor, who can likely give you the most information about his current condition. You should probably ask about what his T cell count (or CD4 cell count) and HIV viral load are. The T cell count represents how well his immune system is doing, so the higher the count, the better. Normal T cell counts are usually over a thousand. People with AIDS usually have a T cell count of less than 200. An HIV viral load tells us how much HIV is in his blood. The higher this number is, the more HIV is in his blood. Thus, a low viral load is desired. The use of anti-HIV medications can bring the viral load to undetectable levels, which is the goal of treatment. If he is not seeing an HIV specialist, I would really recommend that he finds one (perhaps at the aegis site). He will likely need to be started on anti-HIV medications, if he is not already on them. The good news is that there are many good medications that can really help your brother get much better. The best thing that you can do for him is to be as supportive as possible.
Good luck and take care.

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