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Table 2 WHO clinical staging for HIV/AIDS

From: CryptoDex: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III trial of adjunctive dexamethasone in HIV-infected adults with cryptococcal meningitis: study protocol for a randomised control trial

Clinical stage 1

Asymptomatic

Persistent generalised lymphadenopathy (PGL)

Performance scale 1: asymptomatic, normal activity

Clinical stage 2

Weight loss, <10% of body weight

Minor mucocutaneous manifestations (seborrheic dermatitis, prurigo, fungal nail infections, recurrent oral ulcerations, angular cheilitis)

Herpes zoster, within the last 5 years

Recurrent upper respiratory tract infections (for example, bacterial sinusitis)

And/or performance Scale 2: symptomatic, normal activity.

Clinical stage 3

Weight loss, >10% of body weight

Unexplained chronic diarrhoea, >1 month

Unexplained prolonged fever (intermittent or constant), >1 month

Oral candidiasis (thrush)

Oral hairy leukoplakia

Pulmonary tuberculosis, within the past year.

Severe bacterial infections (for example, pneumonia, pyomyositis)

And/or Performance scale 3: bedridden, <50% of the day during the last month

Clinical stage 4

HIV wasting syndrome, as defined by CDC1

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia

Toxoplasmosis of the brain

Cryptosporidiosis with diarrhoea, >1 month

Cryptococcosis, extrapulmonary

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease of an organ other than liver, spleen, or lymph nodes

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection, mucocutaneous >1 month, or visceral of any duration

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML)

Any disseminated endemic mycosis (for example, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis)

Candidiasis of the oesophagus, trachea, bronchi, or lungs

Atypical mycobacteriosis, disseminated

Nontyphoid Salmonella septicaemia

Extrapulmonary tuberculosis

Lymphoma

Kaposi sarcoma (KS)

HIV encephalopathy, as defined by CDC2

And/or Performance scale 4: bedridden, >50% of the day during the last month

  1. (Note: Both definitive and presumptive diagnoses are acceptable).
  2. 1HIV wasting syndrome: weight loss of >10% of body weight, plus either unexplained chronic diarrhoea (>1 month), or chronic weakness and unexplained prolonged fever (>1 month).
  3. 2HIV encephalopathy: clinical finding of disabling cognitive and/or motor dysfunction interfering with activities of daily living, progressing over weeks to months, in the absence of a concurrent illness or condition other than HIV infection that could explain the findings.