HIV-1 Viral Load and CD4+ T Cell Quantification

Blood samples were collected within 3 months after infection had been confirmed. Absolute CD4+T lymphocytes were counted by flow cytometry (FACS Calibur, BD Company, USA) within 24 h after blood sample processing [17 (link)]. Plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load (part of samples) was quantified using CobasTaqMan System (Roche Diagnostics) according to the manufacture’s recommendation.
Our laboratory participates in the External Quality Assessment (EQA) for both CD4+T cell count and viral load assays, organized by National Reference Laboratory (NRL), China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and Australia NRL.