Dr. Denis Nash, a professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy and colleagues examined the trends in CD4+ T-Cell counts at diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection and antiretroviral therapy initiation. The findings were published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
[Photo: Dr. Denis Nash]
Laboratory tests from surveillance can be utilized to examine trends in CD4+ T-cell count of human immunodeficiency virus infection at diagnosis and antiretroviral therapy initiation.
The research team used CD4+ T-cell counts and viral loads from New York City for persons who received a diagnosis of HIV infection during the period of 2006 to 2012. During this time period, the median CD4+ T-cell count increased from 325 to 379 cells/µL at diagnosis and from 178 to 360 cells/μL at antiretroviral therapy initiation. CD4+ T-cell counts were consistently lower in women, blacks, Hispanics, persons who inject drugs, and heterosexuals.
The research team concluded that increases in CD4+ T-cell count at diagnosis and antiretroviral therapy initiation suggest that the time from HIV infection to antiretroviral therapy initiation has been substantially reduced in New York City.