Spectrum of clinical disease in a series of hospitalized HIV-infected patients from southeast of Iran.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the pattern of opportunistic infections (OIs) and non-infectious opportunistic diseases in hospitalized HIV-infected patients in Zahedan, southeast of Iran.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the records of 52 HIV-infected patients (47 male, 5 female; age range, 21-54 years) who were admitted to Boo-Ali Hospital, Zahedan, Iran for evaluation and management of an HIV-related disorders from April 2000 to December 2005.


RESULTS
Tuberculosis (TB) was the most common opportunistic infections (53.8%) followed by hepatitis C (11.5%), typhoid (9.6%), amebiasis (9.6%), candidal esophagitis (5.7%), acute bacterial pneumonia (3.8%), and cerebral toxoplasmosis (1.9 %). Most of the cases of TB were pulmonary (36.5%). Apart from other well-recognized OIs, 2 cases of HIV-associated lymphoma were encountered. Only 12 patients (23.07%) received antiretroviral therapy. Five patients (9.6%) died during hospital stay due to tuberculosis (4 cases) and typhoid (1 case).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings show that opportunistic infections are common in HIV-infected patients in Zahedan, southeast of Iran. Tuberculosis remains the most common OIs and is the most common cause of death in these patients.
Sharifi-Mood
Batool
B
Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran. batoolsharifi@yahoo.com
Alavi-Naini
Roya
R
Salehi
Masoud
M
Hashemi
Mohammad
M
Rakhshani
Fatemeh
F
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D000328:Adult; D000562:Amebiasis / Q000453:epidemiology; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016781:Toxoplasmosis, Cerebral / Q000453:epidemiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000453:epidemiology