Most Americans And Canadians With HIV Diagnosed Too Late.
Americans and Canadians infected with HIV are not getting diagnosed post-haste enough after exposure, resulting in a potentially dangerous hold off in lifesaving treatment, a new large study suggests. The observation stems from an investigation involving nearly 45000 HIV-positive patients in both countries, which focused on a key yardstick for invulnerable system strength - CD4 cell counts - at the time each patient firstly began treatment. CD4 counts measure the number of "helper" T-cells that are HIV's preferred target.

Reviewing the participants' medical records between 1997 and 2007, the yoke found that throughout the 10-year study period, the usual CD4 count at the time of first treatment was below the recommended level that scientists have yearn identified as the ideal starting point for medical care. "The public health implications of our findings are clear," analyse author Dr Richard Moore, from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in a despatch release. "Delayed diagnosis reduces survival, and individuals enter into HIV attention with lower CD4 counts than the guidelines for initiating antiretroviral therapy". A poke in getting treatment not only increases the chance that the disease will progress, but boosts the risk of transmission, he added.