Education, advocacy, training
Index 
5.1-5.2 Introduction and aims 
5.3 OI and coinfection overview 
5.4 Gut infections
Glossary 
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AIDS acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
ARV anti-retroviral (drug to treat HIV infection).
CD4 count number of CD4 cells in a drop of your blood. CD4 counts are measured in cells/mm3.
coinfection having two infections, eg HIV and TB.
diagnosis identifying the cause of an illness.
empirical treatment treating an illness based on its symptoms to see if the get better.
HIV human immunodeficiency virus.
immune system different parts of your body used to fight infections.
opportunistic infection (OI) infection that occurs after your immune system has been damaged by HIV.
prophylaxis treatment to prevent an illness.
symptom sign of illness.
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There are about 10 main OIs that advocates should know about.
There are at least another 10 other important OIs that are less common.
For basic training you should learn about the OIs that are most common in your country.
Symptoms are useful to identify OIs. Sometimes symptoms are enough to start treatment, based on a 'best guess' (called empirical treatment).
Many OIs have the same symptoms.
Most OIs can cause primary disease in a wide range of organs.
This usually means either testing blood, saliva or sputum (fluid from the lungs) or trying to grow a culture from one of these samples (which can take several weeks).
A definite diagnosis can be difficult or impossible. You may only know if the suspected illness was identified correctly if symptoms improve after treatment.
Most OIs, but not all of them, resolve after successful ARV treatment for HIV has helped CD4 counts to rise.
Prophylaxis means taking treatment to prevent an illness.
Secondary prophylaxis is where you continue a treatment after the illness is better to prevent it occurring again.
AIDS-defining infections for CDC clinical categories
Risk of opportunistic infections by CD4 count and effect of ARV treatment
Index 5.1-5.2 Introduction and aims 5.3 OI and coinfection overview 5.4 Gut infections
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Last updated on Monday 26th November 2007.
