The staging and monitoring by primary care providers of patients with human immunodeficiency virus infections.

As HIV testing expands through the population, primary care physicians will become more involved in the testing process. They will also be caring for increasingly larger numbers of HIV infected people from the asymptomatic through those with AIDS, through hospice care, should that become appropriate. This article summarizes key areas of clinician support for the HIV infected, clinical and laboratory markers associated with rapid progression of the disease, and important problem areas in clinical management. It also presents a series of staging diagrams that have proven useful in assisting clinicians in educating patients about the natural history of the HIV infection, the rationale for staging, the rationale for the timing of AZT therapy and Pneumocystis prophylactic treatment, and the significance of various prognosticators in management as the disease progresses.