Talking With Your Doctor about your HIV infection, HIV stages and symptoms

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Living well with HIV means taking good care of your health on a daily basis. It also means working closely with your doctor and health care team as well as taking your HIV medications as prescribed. For more information on adherence, click here. Together, you can make a plan to fight the virus, prevent other infections from occurring and improve your quality of life.

Determining the stage of HIV is an important step in the medical evaluation of people who have tested positive for HIV. It involves assessing how much the infection has affected the body. The staging system is based on your CD4 cell counts and the presence of certain infections or conditions. These indicate whether the HIV infection has progressed to AIDS.

	Clinical Categories
	A	B	C*
CD4 Cell Categories	Asymptomatic or PGL, or Acute HIV Infection	Symptomatic** (not A or C)	AIDS Indicator Condition (1987)
> 500/mm3 (>= 29%)	A1	B1	C1
200 to 499/mm3 (14% to 28%)	A2	B2	C2
< 200/mm3 (< 14%)	A3	B3	C3

* All patients in categories A3, B3, and C1-3 are defined as having AIDS based on the presence of an AIDS-indicator condition and/or a CD4 cell count of less than 200/mm3.

** These are symptomatic conditions not included in Category C that are either due to HIV infection or require treatment or management that is complicated by HIV infection.

The more you understand about HIV, how it affects your body, and how it is treated, the better you will be able to discuss your health with your doctor. Click on the following links for tips on how to prepare for your next appointment. This section also includes a checklist that you can print out and take to your next doctor appointment to help guide your discussion.

If You're Asymptomatic (CD4 Cell Count > 500/mm3)

If You're Symptomatic (CD4 Cell Count 200 to 499/mm3)

If You Have AIDS (CD4 Cell Count < 200/mm3)

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