OBJECTIVES In low-income settings, treatment failure is often identified using CD4 cell count monitoring. Consequently, patients remain on a failing regimen, resulting in a higher risk of transmission. We investigated the benefit of routine viral load monitoring for reducing HIV transmission. DESIGN Mathematical model. METHODS We developed a stochastic mathematical model representing the co...

Background: Despite the considerable advances in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) treatment and management, finding the cure for this disease has been hindered by emerging challenges such as virus resistance and treatment failures. The purpose of this study is to compare the cytokine profiles of patients with successful treatment and patients with unsuccessful treatment to gain a bette...

OBJECTIVE To report the viral load and CD4 count in HIV-infected, antiretroviral naïve, first -time HIV-testers, not immediately eligible for treatment initiation by current South Africa treatment guidelines. DESIGN This was a cross-sectional study in a high-volume, free-of-charge HIV testing centre in Soweto, South Africa. METHODS We enrolled first time HIV testers and collected demographi...

A 27-year-old HIV-infected pregnant Japanese woman was admitted to our hospital at gestational week 14. The patient's HIV viral load was 71,000 copies/mL, and her CD4 cell count was 147 cells/mm(3). Zidovudine, lamivudine, and lopinavir/ritonavir were administered at gestational week 18. Because the viral load increased to 222,000 copies/mL at the initiation of antiretroviral therapy, we added ...

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific T-cell responses are thought to play a key role in viral load decline during primary infection and in determining the subsequent viral load set point. The requirements for this effect are unknown, partly because comprehensive analysis of total HIV-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses to all HIV-encoded epitopes has not been accomplished. To ass...

The emergence of CXCR4-using HIV variants (X4-HIV) is associated with accelerated disease progression in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. However, the effect of X4-HIV variants on the treatment response remains unclear. Here we determined whether the presence of X4-HIV variants influenced the time to undetectable viral load and CD4+ T cell reconstitution after initiation of cART in 732 pa...

It is recognized that iron overload is associated with excess mortality in HIV/AIDS, and that this may be due to iron acting as an HIV-1 transcriptional activator. In vitro evidence using iron chelators suggests that therapeutic iron depletion may be beneficial in HIV-1 infection. We describe the clinical course of a Caucasian man with hereditary haemochromatosis and HIV infection where a signi...

BACKGROUND Electronic personal health records (PHRs) can support patient self-management of chronic conditions. Managing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral load, through taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) is crucial to long term survival of persons with HIV. Many persons with HIV have difficulty adhering to their ART over long periods of time. PHRs contribute to chronic disease self-care...

Background Viral load (VL) testing is highly important for detection of antiretroviral treatment (ART) failure in AIDS patients. However, due to the cost and availability of viral load testing instruments, VL testing is not being performed in many developing and underdeveloped countries. Such countries depend on CD4 tests for staging the HIV infection and for initiating ART, since CD4 testing i...

BACKGROUND The use of dried blood spots (DBS) for HIV-1 viral load quantification can greatly improve access to viral monitoring for HIV-infected patients receiving treatment in resource-limited settings. OBJECTIVES To evaluate and validate HIV viral load measurement from DBS in sub-Saharan Africa, with a reliable, all-automated, standard commercial assay such as the Abbott m2000. METHODS A...