{"id":4053,"date":"2021-05-26T16:50:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T16:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/?p=4053"},"modified":"2026-01-07T13:45:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:45:29","slug":"why-has-my-cd4-count-dropped-when-i-am-on-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/4053","title":{"rendered":"Why has my CD4 count dropped when I am on treatment?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thank you for your question.<\/p>\n

It is very common for CD4 results to fluctuate. This can be the case now even though one result is much lower than the other. Once you are on treatment the most important thing is that your viral load remains undetectable.<\/p>\n

For your other questions:<\/p>\n

There are two different strains of HIV. Very few people have HIV-2 which is a much less aggressive strain and found mainly in West Africa. Most people have HIV-1.<\/p>\n

Your CD4 fluctuation would not be as a result of the type of HIV you have. It also does not mean you are going to become ill again.<\/p>\n

Also, a CD4 fluctuation is very different to seroconversion.<\/p>\n

For more information about CD4 count fluctuations please follow this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some people on treatment though do not get a CD4 increase. This perhaps affects up to 10% of people and the reasons are not known. If your CD4 percentage (CD4%) is relatively high (22% is about the same as a CD4 count of 350 and \u00a012-15% is about a count of 200) then this still gives you good protection against infections.<\/p>\n

Research is also looking at other ways to explain why CD4 counts do not always increase, so there may be more treatment options for this in the future.<\/p>\n

Note: this post was updated in 2021 from an original question in 2011.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi<\/p>\n

I’ve been taking Atripla for 1 year now. I started my medication 3 years after becoming HIV positive as my CD4 was 349 at the time. I got my bloodwork results today. <\/p>\n

My CD4 is now the lowest it has ever been at 239 and my viral load is undetectable. When I experienced seroconversion a couple of weeks after being infected, I felt as though I was slipping away, it was horrific. <\/p>\n

I have heard that some people can go for years without medication without their CD4 becoming low and their viral load becoming high. Some people haven’t experienced seroconversion, well, at least not as significant as I suffered. <\/p>\n

Fortunately, I have not been ill since apart from a cold and other normal stuff. I’ve heard that there is a type 1 and type 2 strain of HIV. Do you think that I have a more agressive strain of HIV?<\/p>\n

Also, if my CD4 is 239, should I be concerned? Should I expect to get ill soon?<\/p>\n

Many thanks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-topics","category-cd4-and-viral-load"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4053"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26454,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4053\/revisions\/26454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}