title: Fever in HIV-infected patients: less frequent but still complex.
abstract: Fever was a common symptom in patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection in the early phases of the epidemic. Fever of Unknown Origin (FUO) was frequent in HIV-patients and conditions causing FUO were often opportunistic conditions. The HIV-epidemic continues to expand, but access to effective antiretroviral therapy is also expanding, resulting in a growing number of HIV-infected patients less likely to be severely immunocompromised and less likely to present opportunistic conditions. Yet part of newly diagnosed patients continue to present with advanced HIV-infection and are still at high risk of opportunistic conditions. This epidemiological evolution strongly influences the spectrum of conditions causing fever and FUO in HIV-patients. While some patients with HIV-associated fever and FUO may still be suffering from opportunistic conditions classically associated with HIV-related FUO, many others will have causes of fever that are similar to the non-HIV-infected population or to classical FUO. Strategies for diagnosis and treatment of fever and its causes in HIV-infected patients need to take into account this evolution.
authors.affiliation: Dienst Algemene Interne Geneeskunde, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. paul.demunter@uz.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Munter
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Peetermans
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Derdelinckx
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vanderschueren
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Wijngaerden
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000150:complications; D005335:Fever of Unknown Origin / Q000209:etiology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D054019:Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications