Diagnosed last week 22 year old male in UK with shingles, sorry for asking something again so quickly. I'm a bit confused about my results.

CD4 was 384 viral load test not back yet.

1) I have read several times that if you get tested while suffering another infection, your count will likely show a temporary low. I also believe I read on this site however that your CD4 count can be artificially high due to infections. Can both be true depending on circumstances?

2) How much can CD4 count fluctuate in these circumstances? I know it's different for different people, but is say 50-200 normal or is that too much?

I am awaiting viral load, drug resistance and another test they said was quite new which could determine roughly when I became infected. I was negative to all other STIs including hep b and c and had normal liver and kidney function.

Thanks again for your help at a confusing time!

Don't hesitate to ever ask questions. The answer to #1 is yes, it can go in either direction and for #2, that is a reasonable range of fluctuation. Many things can cause CD4 fluctuations including time of day, stress, immunizations, recreational drug use, other ongoing infections, among others. That is why the CD4% is also important to follow and is a more stable number over time.