How to Diagnose AIDS and HIV?

People diagnosed with AIDS when they have signs or symptoms defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC definition of AIDS includes:

Less than 200 CD4 + T cells per cubic millimeter of blood, compared to about 1000 CD4 + T cells in healthy people. CD4 + T cells are white blood cells that play an important role in the body’s immune system. These cells are destroyed by HIV. Even when an infected person feels well and not experiencing symptoms, CD4 + T cells are infected with HIV.

CD4 + T cells represent less than 14 percent of all lymphocytes, a type of white blood.

One more of the diseases listed below:

• Candidiasis of bronchi, esophagus, trachea or lungs
• • Cervical cancer is invasive
  • Coccidioidomycosis that has spread
  • Cryptococcosis affecting the body outside the lungs
  • Cryptosporidiosis affects the intestines and that lasts more than a month
  • Cytomegalovirus disease outside the lymph of the liver, spleen or lymph
  • CMV retinitis occurs with vision loss
  • Encephalopathy is associated with HIV
  • Herpes simplex, including ulcers that last more than a month or bronchitis, pneumonitis or esophagitis
  • Histoplasmosis, which has spread
  • Isosporiasis affecting the intestines and that lasts more than a month
  • Kaposi’s sarcoma
  • Burkitt’s lymphoma, immunoblastic type that is or is primary and affects the brain or central nervous system
  • Mycobacterium avium or disease caused by M kansasii
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis within or outside of the lungs
  • Other Mycobacterium species that has spread
  • Pneumocystis carinii, formerly carinii pneumonia
  • Pneumonia is recurrent
  • Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
  • Salmonella septicemia, which is recurrent
  • Toxoplasmosis of the brain, also known as encephalitis
  • The wasting syndrome caused by HIV infection
  Symptoms may include anxiety, dementia, depression and insomnia.
  Tests for HIV and AIDS:
  Blood tests are the most common way to diagnose human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). These tests look for antibodies to the virus present in the blood of infected people.People exposed to the virus should be tested immediately.
  Early detection is crucial with HIV. If you test positive for the virus, you and your doctor can develop a treatment plan to help fight HIV and avoid complications. Early screening can also alert you to avoid risky behaviors that could spread the virus to others.
  Because it can take six weeks to six months to develop antibodies to the virus, follow-up testing may be required. Your doctor will ask about your symptoms, medical history and risk factors and perform a physical examination.
  The primary tests to diagnose HIV and AIDS include:
  ELISA:
  ELISA which means enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, is used to detect HIV infection. If an ELISA test is positive, the Western blot test is usually administered to confirm the diagnosis. If an ELISA test is negative, but you think you have HIV, you should be retested in one to three months.
  ELISA is highly sensitive to chronic HIV infection, but because the antibodies are not produced immediately after the infection, you can test negative for a window of several weeks to several months after being infected. While the test may be negative during this window, you can have a high level of virus and to be at risk of transmitting infection.
  Home Testing :
  The only home test approved by the Food and Drug Administration is called on the Home Access Express Test, which is sold in pharmacies.
  The saliva tests:
  A cotton swab is used to obtain saliva from the inside of your cheek. The cushion is placed in a vial and subjected to a laboratory for testing. The results are available in three days. Positive results must be confirmed by a blood test.
  Viral Load Test:
  This test measures the amount of HIV in your blood. Generally it is used to monitor the progress of treatment or early detection of HIV infection. Three technologies to measure HIV viral load in blood – reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), branched DNA (bDNA) and nucleic acid sequence-based amplification test acids (NASBA). The basic principles of these tests are similar. HIV is detected using DNA sequences that specifically bind to those of the virus. It is important to note that results may vary between tests.
  Western Blot – This is a very sensitive blood test used to confirm a positive ELISA test.