IJSRP, Volume 3, Issue 7, July 2013 Edition [ISSN 2250-3153]
Jane N. Mugwe, Dick Mbaja
Abstract:
The decision to commence antiretroviral therapy (ART) is clinical and made in consultation with the patient with the help of basic laboratory investigations. Clinical assessment includes staging of (Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) diseases, determining other existing conditions, identifying other medications including traditional therapies, body weight, and assessment of patients’ readiness for antiretroviral therapy. The laboratory play an important role in initiation and follow up of already enrolled clients. CD4 cells can be constantly estimated to obtain values before the initiation of therapy and even during chemotherapy. This can be achieved through the use of flow cytometry instruments for estimating CD4 cells in individuals, such as Fascalibur or Fascount ; which work under the same principle but occasionally produces different results. There is need to establish their accuracy, reliability and reproducibility. This study was aimed at investigating the accuracy and reliability between Fascount and Fascalibur in CD4 count enumeration.