Q: I am an AIDS patient. I haven't got any illness. I just get flu, headache, stomach ache, body pain and I get tired. My doctor gave me Trimune 40 to be taken everyday. Why is my CD4 count going down day by day? If I don't use any medicines then, my CD4 count will go down very fast. Which medicines should I use in order to increase the CD4 count? Which stage of AIDS am I in? What will happen next? If I get married and have safe sex and don't get pregnant, is there a chance that my partner will be affected? If yes, then in what percentage will he be affected?

A:You have very early HIV infection - this is the symptom free period of HIV/AIDS. I cannot prescribe or treat you over the Internet, you must put yourself in the hands of a competent doctor that you trust. In general the current thinking is that anti-retroviral drugs should not be started until the CD4 count has come down to about 200. Starting these drugs also depends on the viral load and if any AIDS defining illness is present. It is normal in HIV disease for the CD4 count to slowly come down as more and more of the immune system is involved. While I can suggest general concepts, the exact treatment modality will depend on the assessment by the treating doctor.