Loading...
The highly variable period between acquisition of HIV and development of clinical AIDS has been noted since discovery of the virus. While the average period is 10 to 11 years, some individuals progress much more rapidly, and approximately 10% will remain free of AIDS for 20 years after infection. Such variability in prognosis has been one of the great uncertainties facing patients and clinicians, especially when CD4 cell counts are relatively normal and the patient is asymptomatic. In this important study conducted on data from the Multicenter AIDS cohort, viral load determinations are shown conclusively to predict both progression to AIDS and the risk of death.
The study population was 209 HIV-infected gay men enrolled at the Pittsburgh sit…