Although the progression of HIV varies from person to person... Is there a general timeframe in which it takes for an individuals CD4 count to drop from 350 (first signs of thrush) to less then 100 ( chance of getting an active toxo infection)... Is this something that could happen overnight or is there generally a gradual decrease? If there is a gradual decrease at what rate does the gradual decrease typically occur?

Thanks, Thomas

Thomas, thanks for your post.

In general, the time from first infection to AIDS is about 5-8 years-- you're absolutely correct, however, in that there is considerable person-to-person variability in this. Among the factors that relates to the rate of progression is the baseline HIV viral load; persons with higher VLs tend to progress more rapidly than those with lower VLs. But to your point, this progression to AIDS doesn't happen overnight, but even in the most rapid cases takes many, many months.

Just for point of clarity, thrush can be seen in persons with CD4 counts that are entirely within the normal range, around 500 or so.

I hope this helps. BY