Dermatologic manifestations among human immunodeficiency virus patients in south India.
BACKGROUND
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may be associated with a large number of dermatologic manifestations, which may at times constitute the presenting symptoms. These skin lesions are well delineated in the Western literature, but there is a paucity of information from the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. Objective We evaluated 833 persons with HIV to determine the types of dermatologic lesions present.


RESULTS
The various lesions observed were oral candidiasis (45.0%), multidermatomal herpes zoster (11.2%), dermatophytosis of the skin (8.0%), herpes genitalis (7.7%), papular pruritic dermatitis (7.7%), staphylococcal infection of the skin (2.9%), oral hairy leukoplakia (2.3%), molluscum contagiosum (1.3%), genital warts (1.2%), and scabies (0.5%). Alopecia, intractable itching, dry skin, Addisonian pigmentation, and Kaposi's sarcoma were also noted. A correlation between the dermatologic manifestations and CD4 cell counts was found.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the pattern of cutaneous lesions was comparable with that from the West, there is a strikingly lower incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma.
Kumarasamy
N
N
YRG Center for AIDS Research and Education, and University of Madras, Madras, India.
Solomon
S
S
Madhivanan
P
P
Ravikumar
B
B
Thyagarajan
S P
SP
Yesudian
P
P
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*