Abstract
The aim of this study is to assess whether HIV-related illness and World Health Organization (WHO) clinical stage can be used to guide initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in rural Rakai District, Uganda. A retrospective cohort analysis of 910 HIV-seroprevalent individuals randomly sampled from a community cohort was conducted. The associations between HIV-related clinical illness and HIV viral loads >55,000 copies/mL and death were evaluated as a guide for initiation of ART. Reporting one or more HIV-related illnesses was associated with high specificity for identifying HIV viral load >55,000 copies/mL and predicting death within 30 months. There were more deaths in those with one symptom at baseline (16.3%) and two or more symptoms (25.0%) than in those reporting no symptoms (9.6%; P=0.001). HIV-related illness and WHO stage predicted disease progression. The specificity of clinical illness to predict viral load >55,000 copies/mL was high and could be used to rule in HIV disease requiring ART.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 116-120 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | International Journal of STD and AIDS |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- AIDS care
- Algorithms
- Antiretroviral therapy
- Resource-limited setting
- Uganda
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Pharmacology (medical)
- Infectious Diseases
- Dermatology