HOW IS AIDS DIAGNOSED?

Since the recognition of AIDS in the late 1970s, a great deal of diagnostic progress has been made. In the early days of the disease it was only in those people who had the fully developed clinical picture of AIDS that the diagnosis could be made with any certainty. With growing awareness of the different risk groups who might be afflicted with AIDS and with improvements in the blood tests that allow identification of the presence of HIV, the ability to diagnose the carrier state, the early clinical stages, and fully developed AIDS in all its forms has improved.

Physicians consider testing for the AIDS virus in a person who has, among other symptoms, persistent swelling of lymph glands, bouts of unexplained fever, and generalized lack of energy. If this clinical picture becomes complicated by unusual infections or certain types of malignancy, the suspicion of HIV infection increases greatly. In these situations blood testing for the AIDS virus usually is successful in confirming the diagnosis.

Some high-risk individuals may have no symptoms of AIDS infection but may be concerned about being asymptomatic carriers of HIV infection. A blood test can verify whether they are infected with AIDS and are carrying the virus. Most people who carry the virus have the potential for transmitting it to another person either through unprotected and “unsafe” sexual activities or through intravenous drug use with shared needles. Since the introduction of screening for blood transfusions, transmission of the virus through this means no longer poses a threat to the public.

Screening for the AIDS virus became available in the spring of 1985. For people who received blood transfusions from 1978, when AIDS was recognized as a special illness, until 1985 when blood bank screening became available, a test for the AIDS virus might be of value. This is especially the case if a transfusion was received during this period and the person has medical symptoms that are puzzling and not easily identified.

Once the diagnosis of AIDS, or of the HIV carrier state, is established, individuals should have careful and personal supervision by a physician knowledgable in this area. Some family physicians and many specialists in respirology and infectious disease have a special interest and expertise in AIDS. Specialized clinics and counseling centers are available in most cities to assist AIDS-afflicted individuals. As new medical therapies become available, patients associated with these special clinics will usually have access to already established as well as new and experimental treatments.

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