Afterward, the site may be sore. Pregnancy can affect your results. Women with HIV may have higher levels of white blood cells, which affects the proportion of CD4 cells. Drinking too much alcohol can also affect your results. Certain medicines such as corticosteroids can affect your results. You don't need to prepare for this test. But tell your healthcare provider if you are pregnant, are a heavy alcohol user, or are taking medicines that could affect your white blood cell count.
Be sure your provider knows about all medicines, herbs, vitamins, and supplements you are taking. This includes medicines that don't need a prescription and any illegal drugs you may use. Search Encyclopedia.
The rate at which this happens can vary a lot between individuals. It depends in particular on your CD4 count before starting treatment. The higher it was to begin with, the higher it is likely to end up. If you are able to start treatment within a few months of infection, your CD4 count is more likely to recover quickly and completely.
Falls in CD4 counts have more serious implications in people who have started treatment at low counts. This means it is especially important to keep taking treatment that suppresses your viral load to an undetectable level. That way, whether or not your CD4 count continues to rise, viral load should stay at a satisfactory level.
There's more information about starting HIV treatment on another page. A test that measures the number of CD4 cells in the blood, thus reflecting the state of the immune system.
When the CD4 count of an adult falls below , there is a high risk of opportunistic infections and serious illnesses. Measurement of the amount of virus in a blood sample, reported as number of HIV RNA copies per milliliter of blood plasma.
Viral load is an important indicator of HIV progression and of how well treatment is working. An undetectable viral load is the first goal of antiretroviral therapy. The primary white blood cells of the immune system, which signal to other immune system cells how and when to fight infections. Later tests can be compared against this first result to see how things are changing over time and with treatment. It is important to get your CD4 count checked about every three to six months — or as often as your health care provider recommends.
You will need more frequent CD4 cell tests if your count is low or falling, or if you are starting or changing treatment. If you have been on HIV drugs for over two years, are virally suppressed and have a CD4 count over , your provider may suggest that you only need to get your CD4 count checked once a year.
Many factors can affect your CD4 count, including the time of day, level of stress, your menstrual cycle, and infections such as the flu. If you get a result back that surprises you or your health care provider, he or she will probably want you to get a second test. The second test would confirm any unexpected results or show that the first test's results were random — the result of lab error or an unimportant occurrence.
Try not to worry too much about a single abnormal test result; trends over time are usually more important. In addition to your CD4 cell count, your health care provider will want to check your CD4 percentage.
This number tells you what percent of your total lymphocytes a kind of white blood cell are CD4 cells. A normal CD4 cell percentage is about 30 to 60 percent. The CD4 percentage is sometimes a more reliable measurement than the CD4 count because it tends to change less between measurements.
While the CD4 percentage gives information about the health of your immune system, the CD4 count is the preferred measurement for determining whether your HIV disease is progressing.
Currently, treatment guidelines for adults are based on CD4 counts and not on CD4 percentage. However, if your viral load is below detectable levels, then the virus is not growing or spreading — an encouraging result. The test can also check to see how well HIV medicines are working. You may also need a CD4 count if you've had an organ transplant. Organ transplant patients take special medicines to make sure the immune system won't attack the new organ.
For these patients, a low CD4 count is good, and means the medicine is working. You will probably be tested again every few months to see if your counts have changed since your first test. If you are being treated for HIV, your health care provider may order regular CD4 counts to see how well your medicines are working.
A health care professional will take a blood sample from a vein in your arm, using a small needle. After the needle is inserted, a small amount of blood will be collected into a test tube or vial. You may feel a little sting when the needle goes in or out. This usually takes less than five minutes. There is very little risk to having a blood test.
You may have slight pain or bruising at the spot where the needle was put in, but most symptoms go away quickly. CD4 results are given as a number of cells per cubic millimeter of blood.
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