Assessing HIV-Related Oral Mucosal Disease and Using Saliva to Measure Viral Load

The mouth may play an important part in monitoring HIV progression. Mucosal lesions of the mouth are often the first sign of infection and their development in already diagnosed individuals indicates disease progression. In addition, saliva may provide a non-invasive way to track viral load. The purpose of this study is to establish standardized practices for examining the mouth and identifying oral mucosal lesions as well as to establish a correlation of viral load with HIV particles found in saliva.