Figure 5: The course of untreated HIV infection and changes after antiretroviral therapy. In untreated HIV infection the blood CD4 T cell count progressively declines over the course of infection (A). After initiation of antiretroviral therapy the HIV RNA copy numbers significantly decrease below detection limit followed by recovery of CD4 T cells, which can vary notably between individuals (B). Adapted from [99].

99. Maartens G, Celum C, Lewin SR (2014). HIV infection: epidemiology, pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention. Lancet 384(9939): 258-271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(14)60164-1