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Glossary

Selected words and phrases

T-cell – a type of white blood cell (lymphocyte) that are part of the immune system and that mature in the thymus (T). CD4 cells are also called T-cells.

blood sugar – glucose in the blood. When carbohydrates are digested they produce glucose, which circulates in the blood and is used by the body as fuel.

resistance – when the genetic structure of an organism (virus, bacteria, fungi etc) changes in a way that stops a drug from working. See mutation.

Changing treatment and drug resistance.

non-nuke – a common term for NNRTI.

specificity – when referring to the accuracy of a test result, specificity refers to the proportion of people who do not have an illness or disease who have a negative test result.

If a test has low specificity, the concern is over false-positive results – where people who to not have a condition are wrongly diagnosed as having it.

If a test has high specificity, then people who to not have a condition are correctly ruled out from the condition.

For a serious condition, high specificity is essential to prevent people being unnecessarily treated.

Online calculator.

See sensitivity.