Affordable CD4 Enumeration for HIV Staging in Resource-constrained Settings

HIV infection has become a major global pandemic health emergency since the official date of the first recognition of the AIDS epidemic in Los Angeles in 1981 (17). This epidemic has formed a serious, and in many countries, especially in resource-poor countries, devastating crisis. Recent years, the generic antiretroviral treatment (ART) has become more and more available to resource-poor countries (18). However, the patients are only allowed to have the ART when their CD4+ T lymphocytes count in the peripheral blood is known. The CD4+ T lymphocytes count is the most important clinic parameter to determine the disease stage and progression, to assist in making decisions regarding when to start or change ART, and to assess the effect of treatment (19 - 21). Besides, the CD4 percentage in the total lymphocytes or CD4/CD8 ratio is also required for pediatric HIV monitoring (22 - 26).