Glossary

weight loss – a general reduction in weight. Weight loss can often be a symptom of other opportunistic infections.

Weight loss and wasting section of the training manual.

decimal fraction – a fraction turned into a number by dividing the top part by the bottom part. For example, the decimal fraction for 3/5 is 0.6.

integrase inhibitor – a type of HIV drug that stops HIV genetic material from ‘integrating’ into the DNA in a cell.

This is a relatively new family of HIV drugs.

Raltegravir, elvitegravir and dolutegravir are all integrase inhibitors.

tropism – the type of coreceptor used by HIV in order to attach to and then infect a cell. If HIV uses the CCR5 coreceptor on the surface of the a CD4 cell it is called R5-tropic. If it uses the CXCR4 co receptor it is called R4-tropic). Early HIV infection is usually R5-tropic but over time, especially in late disease (if CD4 counts drop to less than 50 cells/mm3) the virus shifts to being X4-tropic.  Mixed tropic refers to a having some viruses that use R5 and some that use X4.

retinitis – inflammation of the retina (in the eye). CMV retinitis is an HIV-related infection that can cause permanent vision loss in someone with a CD4 count that is below 50 cells/mm3.

CMV section of the training manual.