Spectrum of opportunistic infections and profile of CD4+ counts among AIDS patients in North India.
BACKGROUND
As the number of AIDS cases increases in India, information available among clinicians about the prevalence of opportunistic infections (OIs) is scarce. The aim of the present study was to document the characteristic OIs of HIV-infected North Indian patients along with their CD4+ counts.


METHODS
The study group consisted of subjects with confirmed serodiagnosis of HIV, attending the medical clinics at a tertiary health care center in North India. The CD4+ counts were estimated by FACS Calibur (BD) flow cytometer. Simultaneously, routine microbiology smears, cultures and serology were performed to confirm OI.


RESULTS
In this retrospective study of 421 subjects, the predominant OI was tuberculosis (47%, 189 cells/ micro l), followed by parasitic diarrhea (43.5%, 227 cells/ micro l) and oral candidiasis (25.2%, 189 cells/ micro l).


CONCLUSIONS
Tuberculosis was the most frequent OI in the HIV-infected patients studied, and the major mode of transmission of HIV was by sexual route. The median CD4+ counts observed were lower when compared to other studies.
Vajpayee
M
M
Dept. of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (A.I.I.M.S.), Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110029, India. mvajpayee@hotmail.com
Kanswal
S
S
Seth
P
P
Wig
N
N
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002180:Candidiasis, Oral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*