VACS Index 1.0 (HIV mortality)

VACS Index (Justice 2013): a continuous HIV mortality risk from age, CD4, HIV-1 RNA, hemoglobin, FIB-4 components (AST/ALT/platelets), eGFR, and hepatitis C.

Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.

Example

Age
55
CD4 count
250
HIV-1 RNA
1000
Hemoglobin
11
AST
40
ALT
30
Platelets
150
eGFR
70
Hepatitis C co-infection
No

Result: VACS Index 53 of 164 (FIB-4 2.68). Higher values indicate greater 5-year all-cause mortality risk along a continuous curve (published anchors: score 0 ~1.8%, score 164 ~> 85.8%); there is no per-band mortality lookup. Contributions: age 55y +12, CD4 250 +6, HIV-1 RNA +7, Hb 11 +22, FIB-4 2.68 +6.

The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.

What the result means

Lower
Lower total indicates lower 5-year all-cause mortality (anchor: score 0 ~1.8%).
Higher
Higher total indicates greater mortality risk along a continuous curve (anchor: score 164 ~> 85.8%).

What you enter

  • Age (years)
  • CD4 count (cells/µL)
  • HIV-1 RNA (copies/mL)
  • Hemoglobin (g/dL)
  • AST (U/L)
  • ALT (U/L)
  • Platelets (×10⁹/L)
  • eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m²)
  • Hepatitis C co-infection
How this is calculated

Tate JP, Justice AC, Hughes MD, et al. An internationally generalizable risk index for mortality after one year of antiretroviral therapy. AIDS. 2013;27(4):563-572 (VACS Index 1.0). FIB-4 = (age x AST) / (platelets x sqrt(ALT)); total 0-164. Read the source ↗

A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.

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Built by Clay Good. Source on GitHub.