duct surveillance for adults, adolescents, and children. They have reported 42% of cumulative US AIDS cases. In 1996, national AIDS incidences and AIDS deaths declined for the first time during the HIV epidemic. These declines have been primarily due to the early use of combination antiretroviral therapy, which delays progression to AIDS and death for persons with HIV infection.SIGN, SYMPTOMS AND TESTSymptoms of AIDS are primarily the result of an infection that does not normally develop in a person with a healthy immune system. These infections are called opportunistic infections. AIDS destroys the immune system and makes the infected person more susceptible to such infections. General symptoms include fevers, sweats, chills, weakness, and weight loss. For people with HIV to have AIDS, their immune system must become severely damaged. The severity of damage is measured by an absolute CD4 lymphocyte count. The CD4 lymphocyte is an important cell in the bloodstream that helps protect from several infections and cancers. If a person with HIV has a CD4 count less than 200 they are said to have AIDS. The following is a list of diseases that people with AIDS acquires when the CD4 decreases.CD4 count below 350/ml: Herpes Simple Virus, Tuberculosis, Oral and/or vaginal thrush, Herpes zoster, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. CD4 count below 200/ml: Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, Candida esophagitis. CD4 below 100/ml: Crytococcal meningitis, AIDS Dementia, Wasting Syndrome. CD4 count below 50/ml: Mycobacterium, Cytomegalovirus infection. There are a few new tests for the AIDS virus; one is the Western Blot Test. When the body is infected with a virus, the immune system responds by producing antibody-proteins that circulate in the blood and attempt to destroy the virus. Exposing a blood sample to a special paper impregnated with selected virus fragments will cause any antibodies present to bind to the virus and produce a characteristic pa...
