Low Cluster of Differentiation 4+ T Cell Count in People Living with HIV/AIDS Undergoing Antiretroviral Therapy Visiting a Reference Laboratory: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a lentivirus that causes human immunodeficiency virus infection and over time, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Cluster of Differentiation 4+ T cell count of people living with this infection play a vital role to determine infection progression and necessary treatment changes. This study was conducted to find out the prevalence of low Cluster of Differentiation 4+ T Cell Count in the People Living with human immunodefieciency virus/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between June to August 2018 in the Human Immunodeficiency virus and Hepatitis Reference Unit of National Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Population Teku. Ethical approval was taken (Reference Number 2912) and a total of 550 seropositive cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 undergoing antiretroviral therapy were studied. Convenient sampling technique was used. Data was analysed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. RESULTS: Seventeen (3.1%) of patients had Cluster of Differentiation 4+ T cell counts below 100 cells/ mm(3) of blood. The mean Cluster of Differentiation 4+ T cell count was 509.3 cells/mm(3) of blood. Of the total samples, 280 (50.9%) were males, 268 (48.7%) were females, and the rest 2 (0.4%) were of other gender. CONCLUSIONS: Majority of people living with human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome were found immune-competent.