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Ask the Experts about Mental Health and HIV
My Sister
Aug 21, 2008
My sisters dr says she's at the very, very advanced stage of AIDS and that her T-Count is under 200. What does this mean? How much time does she have left? She is in the hospital with a absess on her breast which they are draining, but NO AIDS medication has been given? Does this mean its to late for any medicine now?
Response from Dr. Horwath
Having a T-cell count below 200 makes a person very vulnerable to various types of infections. Doctors will often treat an acute infection (like your sister's abscess) first, and then start antiretroviral medications after fully evaluating the treatment history or getting some tests to identify the presence of resistance to some of the drugs (genotypic or phenotypic resistance testing). Viral resistance to the drugs is sometimes present in those who have been treated in the past.
This does NOT mean that it's too late for medication. Even people with very advanced stages of AIDS can benefit from treatment. I have had many patients who had advanced AIDS, were very ill, but recovered with treatment. You should remain hopeful and encourage the doctors to start antiretroviral treatment.
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