Q. How does the CD4 counting act to monitor the HIV infection? What is another laboratory method to follow up the disease?
The CD4 counting test is complete from a blood sample of a person infected by the HIV In this test the number of CD4 cells is counted. If the number (concentration) is abnormally low it signifies immunodeficiency and the patient usually must be treated with antiretroviral drugs. The other examination used to follow up the infection is the viral load test. In this examination the number of HIV virus is estimated from a blood sample indicating whether the treatment (control) of the disease has been successful or not.