INTRODUCTION The WHO clinical guidelines for HIV/AIDS are widely used in resource limited settings to represent the gold standard of CD4 counts for antiviral therapy initiation. The utility of the WHO-defined stage 1 and 2 clinical factors used in WHO HIV/AIDS clinical staging in predicting low CD4 cell count has not been established in Uganda. Although the WHO staging has shown low sensitivity...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) presents a serious problem in Mozambique. HIV prevalence among TB patients is estimated at 47%. A delay in having their first CD4+ cell count could lead to a missed opportunity for ART initiation due to a CD4+ cell increase above the cut-off caused by TB treatment. The objective is to describe CD4+ cell response during TB treatment and quantify the effect of TB trea...

Total lymphocyte count (TLC) has been recommended as a substitute for CD4 cell count for the management of HIV-infected individuals living in resource-limited settings. To confirm this, 151 TLCs and CD4 cell counts were obtained from 109 patients who had not yet started treatment and analyzed. CD4 cell counts of <200 cells/mm3 were found in 42 cases (37.8%) with TLCs of > or =1200 cells/mm3. Th...

BACKGROUND Liver cirrhosis has been associated with decreased absolute CD4 cell counts but preserved CD4 cell percentage in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative persons. We evaluated factors associated with discordance between the absolute CD4 cell count and the CD4 cell percentage in a cohort of patients coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV). METHODS Baseline data from 908 p...

BACKGROUND Patients accessing antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes in sub-Saharan Africa frequently have very advanced immunodeficiency. Previous data suggest that such patients may have diminished capacity for CD4 cell count recovery. METHODS Rates of CD4 cell increase were determined over 48 weeks among ART-naïve individuals (n = 596) commencing ART in a South African community-based A...

OBJECTIVES To assess the diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility of a simplified low cost method for measuring absolute and percentage CD4 counts with flow cytometry. DESIGN A CD4 counting method (Blantyre count) using a CD4 and CD45 antibody combination with reduced blood and reagent volumes. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed by measuring agreement of the index test with two other assays (Tr...

Background: Monitoring of phenotypic characteristics of T-lymphocytes in peripheral blood is commonly performed to give the clinical parameters in the management of kidney transplant recipients.   Objective: To predict rejection in renal transplantation by immune parameters. Methods: 16 non-diabetic kidney transplant candidates (4 females and 12 males, age = 20-65 yr, first time transplant) wer...

Background Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is considered a risk factor for progression of liver disease in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This disease progression is reported to be more significant in those with concomitant HIV infection. We aimed to determine the prevalence rate of OBI in a sample of HIV-positive patients. Materials and Methods: Sixty-six HIV-infected pati...

OBJECTIVES African health services have shortages of clinical staff. We showed previously, in a cluster-randomized trial, that a home-based strategy using trained lay-workers is as effective as a clinic-based strategy. It is not known whether home-based care is suitable for patients with advanced HIV disease. METHODS The trial was conducted in Jinja, Uganda. One thousand, four hundred and fif...

The CD4+ T cell count estimation is an important monitoring tool for HIV disease progression and efficacy of anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Due to availability of ART at low cost in developing countries, quest for reliable cost effective alternative methods for CD4+ T cell count estimation has gained importance. A simple capillary-based microflurometric assay (EasyCD4 System, Guava Technology...