Question

A patient diagnosed to be retro-positive was started on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Which of the following can be used to monitor treatment efficacy?

• A. CD4+ T cell count
• B. Viral load
• C. p24 antigen
• D. Viral serotype

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

In monitoring the efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for a patient who is retro-positive, the primary objective is to assess the replicative activity of the virus in the patient's body. Among the given options, the most appropriate marker for this purpose is the viral load.

Here's the rationale:

• Viral Load: This directly measures the amount of HIV RNA in the blood, providing a quantitative assessment of viral replication. A successful HIV treatment usually results in a reduced viral load, ideally to undetectable levels.
• CD4+ T Cell Count: Although this is crucial for assessing the immune system's status, it is not a direct measure of treatment efficacy. CD4 counts can take longer to reflect changes and are more indicative of immune recovery.
• p24 Antigen: This is used in early HIV diagnosis, but is less effective for monitoring treatment as it doesn't reflect real-time viral replication like viral load does.
• Viral Serotype: This determines the specific subtype of the virus but does not provide real-time information about viral load or treatment success.

Thus, viral load is the most effective metric to monitor when assessing the efficacy of HAART in real time.