Question
I am just diagnosed with a CD4 count of 10?
7 December 2011. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Newly diagnosed, Starting treatment.
I’ve recently tested HIV+ and unfortunately my CD4 count came out at 10. I am not ill, but do i have the chance to live any longer.
Answer
Hi
As well as being HIV positive, your CD4 count is very low. Unless you were only infected very recently, this means your HIV is very advanced.
Using ARV treatment (ART) as soon as possible is important. ART will reduce the serious risk of HIV-related health complications.
The medicines will still work for you. There are many reasons to be hopeful and optimistic.
Because your CD4 count is uder 50 there is also a chance that other infections (called IRIS) might become active during the first few months of treatment. These are usuallly easy to treat, but tell your doctor about any new symptoms over the next months.
Also, please be very careful not to miss any doses of your meds. This is called good adherence.
Your doctor should also give you antibiotics to protect you from other infections. This is usually cotrimoxazole (often also called Septrin or Bactrim) which is a combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. This treatment should continue until your CD4 count gets much higher (at least above 200, maybe above 350).
While your CD4 count is still below 50, including now, your doctor should also examine your eyes. This is to check whether a viral infection called CMV is affecting your eyes. CMV can cause serious and permanent vision loss.
For more information see this guide to starting treatment, called Introduction to ART.
If you were not expecting to be HIV positive, this will take a while for the news to sink in. It will get easier – and hopefully you will get a good response from treatment.
These two links might help:
Just diagnosed:
https://i-base.info/just-found-out
Who can I talk to:
https://i-base.info/who-can-i-talk-to
Note: This answer was updated in December 2016 from a question first posted on 13 September 2011.
how long can a person with cd4 count of 100 live for?but on treatment?
he has sugar diabetic.aged 43,struggling with feet pains
everytime we take blood to check for viral load the clinic report his results missing,its for the second time now
Hi Unknown.
Yes its common that someone will be first given TB meds then ARVs. And yes its common to have side effects to TB meds.
Your friends immune system is damaged, however its very possible to recover even with a low CD4 count like 10. This will start to happen as soon as your friend starts meds. They will need to specialist care and should follow the advice that’s in the above post. All being well they will recover, though it can take some time.
hi, my friend recently diagnosed HIV + co-infect with TB. His CD4 level is too low at 10. He is under TB meds for 2weeks. Does he have the chance to recover? He was advised to start ART treatment after 2weeks of TB meds. Is it normal that he is experiencing some side effects? Quite worried if we will wait for the 2weeks medication before he can start ART treatment.
Hi Tholakele,
It’s good to hear that your fiance is doing fine physically. But a CD4 count of 46 is on the very low side. The CD4% is the percentage of white blood cells that are CD4 cells. This too is low.
Next steps will be to look at starting HIV treatment very soon. You can see from Simon’s answer above that using ARV treatment (ART) soon is important to keep her well. ART will reduce any serious risk of HIV-related health complications.
It’s a good idea to talk to the HIV doctor to check whether to take antibiotics too.
There’s lots more info about starting ART in this Introduction to ART.
Hi Team,
Me and my fiance recently tested and I came back negative and she positive. On second test she has a CD4 count of 46, and CD4 % of 3. What does this mean, she is doing just fine physically and now what should be our next steps.
Hi Karl. Starting HIV treatment now with start to strength your immune system. If this is the reason for not treating the cancer, then ARVs now will help you straight away. Please contact us by email with details about your current HIV clinic and country. We can help more if you are in the UK. Please email: or simon.collins@i-Base.org.uk
Hi Boledi,
It’s great you’re on ARVs. But what’s your viral load result? This is a really good way to check that your ARVs are working well. Here’s a guide to HIV in Pictures. It shows what happens to CD4 count and viral load when you start HIV treatment (ART) on this page.
Hi my cd4 is 123 is this good or bad but m on arv
Dear Karl,
I’m so sorry, you sound very unwell. Unfortunately we are not doctors at i-Base.
But all HIV positive people diagnosed with cancer should be treated with specialist care. Your HIV doctor and your cancer doctor should work together.
Do you live in the UK? Here in the UK you should be referred to the National Centre for HIV Malignancy at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in London.
My CD4 count is 7 as well as i have a cancerous tumor. Time is ticking because the effects of the tumor are keeping me from focusing on the hiv treatment. As well i cant get treatment for the cancer because fighting the hiv has my body too weak for radiation and chemo. Suggestions? Im 36. The few people i know who passed from this didnt see year 38.