| REVIEW ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2011 | Volume
: 134
| Issue : 6 | Page : 801-822 |
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Current practices in laboratory monitoring of HIV infection
Madhu Vajpayee, Teena Mohan
Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Correspondence Address:
Madhu Vajpayee
Associate Professor, Laboratory Head, HIV & Immunology Division, In-charge, National HIV Reference Center & Integrated Counseling & Testing Center, Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110 029
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5916.92627
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After a diagnosis of HIV infection is made, the patient needs to be monitored using both clinical assessment and laboratory markers. HIV/AIDS monitoring is essential in guiding when to recommend initiation of therapy. Clinical monitoring will include staging of the HIV/AIDS disease using either the presence or absence of HIV-related signs and symptoms using the WHO staging system. Various laboratory methods can be used to monitor the disease progression and to guide whether the patient will need antiretroviral therapy or not. Laboratory monitoring for patients who are not on drugs is done to provide information about the stage of illness; to enable the clinician to make decisions on treatment and to give information on prognosis of the patient. Patients on drugs are monitored to assess their response to treatment with antiretroviral drugs and to detect any possible toxicity and improvement associated with the antiretroviral drugs. |
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