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Prognosis of a disease is defined as the outcome or the expected course of the disease. It
comes from an ancient Greek word that means to know beforehand.
At present there is no cure for AIDS and it is fatal without treatment. HIV infection,
however, takes a very long time to develop into full blown AIDS. The virus begins to
replicate in the body within the CD4 cells and begins to destroy the immunity.
The time taken for development of AIDS from HIV infection may range from 6 months (very
rare) to 15 years. In the UK the average time to development of AIDS from initial HIV
infection is around 12 years.
CD4 cell count. Lower counts indicate a poor immunity and chances of getting
infections that may often turn life-threatening.
Viral load in blood. High number of viable viral RNA in blood is another indicator of
poorer prognosis.
Age of the patient. Infants and elderly are more at risk of a poorer outcome and
rapid progress of the disease.
Those who have developed a serious HIV related condition before starting the antiHIV medication are also at a high risk of early AIDS progression and death.
Those with heart disease or liver disease often have a poor prognosis as well.
Over the past three decades an effective vaccine against HIV has been researched. As of
date no effective vaccine against the disease has been found. Research on drug treatments
and vaccine development continues.