Regardless of their HIV status, children with severe non-oedematous malnutrition (marasmus) had significantly lower CD4+ count, CD4+and CD8+ percentages and CD4+/CD8+ ratios than those with oedematous malnutrition (kwashiorkor and marasmic-kwashiorkor) (Table 4 and Figure 2). Here, CD8A is linked to nutritional deficiency disease.