Fatal and nonfatal AIDS and non-AIDS events in HIV-1-positive individuals with high CD4 cell counts according to viral load strata

BACKGROUND This study compared the incidence of fatal and nonfatal AIDS and non-AIDS events in HIV-positive individuals with a CD4 cell count more than 350? cells/µl among viral load strata: low (<500? copies/ml), intermediate (500-9999.9? copies/ml) and high (= 10000? copies/ml). METHODS Individuals contributed person-years at risk if their most recent CD4 cell count was more than 350? cells/µl. Follow-up was censored if their CD4 cell count dropped below 350? cells/µl. Poisson regression analysis investigated the relationship between viraemia and the incidence of AIDS and non-AIDS events. RESULTS Three hundred and fifty-four AIDS events occurred during 51?732 ?person-years of follow-up (PYFU), crude incidence rate of AIDS across the three strata was 0.53, 0.90 and 2.12 per 100?PYFU, respectively. After adjustment, a higher rate of AIDS was observed in individuals with moderate [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.44, 1.02-2.05, P?=?0.03] and high viraemia had a higher rate (IRR 3.91, 2.89-5.89, P?