Dear Dr. Before anything congratulations for your kindness and spirit of help. The closest lab from where we live is 8 hr driving. Here they do perform cbc test, i was wondering if the cbc could show something indicating that the cd4 may be lowering, and its convenient to make the trip to check the cd4. Normally what number of leukocytes would suggest a drop in the cd4, close to starting treatment. Thank you very much

Hi,

The closest lab is 8 hours driving? Wow! Do you live close to that lady who wrote in about the sex toys and who has to travel 4 hours to get to an Olive Garden restaurant for "gourmet" Italian food?

CBC (complete blood counts) cannot be used to estimate the number of CD4 cells. CD4 is a type of lymphocyte which in turn is a type of white blood cell (leukocyte), but by looking at the total number of leukocytes (or even total number of lymphocytes), you cannot determine what's happening in the CD4 subset.

Are you sure you are HIV-positive? If so, you need to be under the care of an HIV specialist. That physician can arrange for your appropriate blood tests. If you do drive the 8 hours to the lab, maybe on the way, you should shop around for some real estate a bit closer to humanity.

Thanks for your kind comments!

Good luck, wherever the heck you are!

Dr. Bob