Question

In my CD4 count too low to recover? I am Asian, does this matter?

4 July 2016. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Starting treatment.

Hi. Is my CD4 too low?

I had exposure about two weeks ago and i went for a test three days ago and the result was HIV positive. By that time my viral load was 100,000 and CD4 was only 170. I tested negative for antigen and antibody. My doctor has immediately put me on Stribild. I started to have acute symptoms after all the tests but after two days I feel the symptoms are manageable probably due to the medication.

I read that 1) CD4 falls sharply during acute phase; 2) Asians (me) usually have a lower CD4 level compared to other ethnicities; and 3) CD4 falls below 200 it has become AIDS. Was my CD4 at a “normal” level given I was in the acute phase?

I’m afraid because my CD4 was too low, I won’t be able to restore it even though I started treatment very early.

Thank you.

Answer

Answer: Simon Collins

Thanks for posting a question. I am sorry to the late reply and we are double-checking that a few questions were not missed due a staf change here.

How are you doing?

Finding out you are positive can be difficult but it is good that you started treatment (ART) and that this is working well.

Your CD4 count will already be back over 200. It is also very likely to return to your pre-HIV levels because you started ART so quickly.

Don’t worry about it dipping below 200. This will not be a problem.

Don’t worry about whether Asian people have slightly lower CD4 counts. This also isn’t important because ART works for all ages, races and genders. There is a lot of natural variation for CD4 counts with a normal range being anything from about 350 to 1600.

Any figure between this range is technically “normal” for some people. Your individual results are more important than comparing these to average values.