Public Health Applications of a Classification System for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Excerpt

Patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may present with various manifestations ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe life-threatening immunodeficiency (1, 2). Because primary prevention and control efforts for this disease are directed at limiting the spread of the virus, public health and epidemiologic activities involving infected persons whose disease manifestations do not fulfill the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) surveillance definition for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are at least as important as efforts involving persons with AIDS. A systematic approach to the categorization of the wide range of clinical findings associated with HIV infection is therefore needed