Many patients with disseminated MAC infection have positive blood cultures at the time of diagnosis, with yield ranging from 18% to 37%.2,4,5 In a study of HIV patients with CD4 equal to or less than 200 cells/mm3, patients who developed MAC infection were more likely to have weight loss, fever, abdominal pain, anemia, elevated LDH, and ALP than matched controls. Here, CD4 is linked to anemia.