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But, on the above, am I missing something? I thought the reason they tested for the HIV antibody in the 80's was because they hadn't isolated the virus. Do they really have a picture of the virus attacking a white blood cell that's from the 80's?
Today, they can actually do viral counts. I think they use a quantitative PCR assay that give the results of the actual number of HIV genomes in the blood stream. It is interesting to note that whenever viral counts are on the rise, CD4+ T-cell counts go down. There is a VERY strong association between high viral counts, low CD4+ T-cell counts, and symptoms of AIDS (eg opportunistic infections). To claim that there isn't an obvious correlation within the data is disingenuous at best. In laymens terms, the virus is killing immune cells that are important for orchestrating an immune response to everyday infections. CD4+ T-cells are also called "helper t-cells". They are responsible for calling in other immune cells to the site of infection.
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