A child of 7 years tested positive last year and has been on treament since but consistent checks were made every 3 months and the child was doing well and improving. Her last number in June this were CD4 count= 1110 and CD4#%=27. Just on thursday last week (21/09/2006)she got sick and was taken to doctor the next day. She had terribles mumps and fever. The doctor ordered some test. Surprisingly the results came back terrible with CD4=500 and CD4%=12 while the viral load went up to 5000 from 2300 in June. The doctor has suggested that she starts treatment soon but has just ordered another test because he also seems to be confused about the results. So we want to know how many test numbers must done to justify starting treatment. We still wonder if the fever and mumps have contributed significantly to these resluts.

Please helps us for we are confused now because the child was doing well and the doctor admits to that.

We always appreciate yours endless assistance.

Thanks for your post.

I'd not worry about a single set of lab tests, especially those obtained in the middle of an acute illness.

I'd wait to start treatment until you had a second set of labs obtained well after the resolution of any illness before committing to starting HIV treatment.

I hope this helps. BY