CD4 White Blood Cells
CD4 cells are the primary target of HIV. A CD4 test quantifies helper T-cells and is often combined with viral load testing to monitor the progression of HIV. CD4 testing shows the strength of the immune system, but does not report viral activity. As established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a person with HIV and a CD4 count below 200 or a CD4 percentage below 14% is considered to have AIDS. An increased CD4 count can result from an immune response to an infection or a recent vaccination. A decreased CD4 count, in combination with higher numbers on a viral load test, indicates an increased risk of getting sick from opportunistic diseases.
Read more about this topic: Viral Load
Famous quotes containing the words white, blood and/or cells:
“I do not think white America is committed to granting equality to the American Negro ... this is a passionately racist country; it will continue to be so in the foreseeable future.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Irrational streams of blood are staining earth;
Empedocles has thrown all things about;
Hector is dead and there’s a light in Troy;
We that look on but laugh in tragic joy.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The twelve Cells for Incorrigibles ... are also carved out of the solid rock hill. On the walls of one of the cells human “liberty” is clearly inscribed, with the “liberty” in significant quotation marks.”
—Administration in the State of Ariz, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)