Hello Doc,

I have been hiv+ since 3/00. My first counts were: cd4/668 and VL/17,000. Over the past year, I have seen my viral load get down to 6000 and my cd4 counts down to 532. In Aug, 01, I received my latest counts: cd4 = 598, VL = 263,911, and 31.4. This is the first I have heard of a . It seems my pattern is that both cd4 & VL numbers are going up. I am not on meds and feel very healthy. I work out, diet could be better and I keep stress to a minimum. My question to you is 2 part, "What does it mean when both numbers go up and why? What is the importance of knowing the ? My partner and I have tried to understand this but to no avail. Thank you so much for your response. Respectfully,

I don't have all your data to make an appropriate conclusion. It would be helpful to have the CD4 absolute count and percentages for all your tests to see what the trend is. The CD4 percent is a more stable number over time. I am not bothered by the first 2 viral loads. This difference is within the variation of the assay, which are usually around 3 fold (3 times). However, the last viral load is clearly and significantly increased. This could be the result of some other illness that was ongoing at that time. I would not make any clinical decisions after one test. I would repeat the data to see if the numbers were consistently changed. MH