High prevalence and excess mortality of late presenters among HIV-1, HIV-2 and HIV-1/2 dually infected patients in Guinea-Bissau - a cohort study from West Africa.
BACKGROUND
HIV infected individuals with late presentation (LP) and advanced disease (AD) have been associated with higher mortality, higher cost of medical management, impaired CD4 cell count increment and potentially ongoing risk of HIV transmission. Here we describe the proportion of patients with LP and AD at an HIV clinic in Guinea-Bissau, identify risk factors and evaluate the outcome of these patients.


METHODS
We included all patients >15 years diagnosed with HIV-1 and/or HIV-2 at the outpatient HIV clinic at Hospital National Simão Mendes, during June 2005 - December 2013 in a retrospective cohort study. Patients were followed until December 2014. LP and AD was defined as a baseline CD4 cell count of 200-349 cells/µL and <200 cells/µL, respectively.


RESULTS
A total of 3,720/5,562 (65.7%) patients had a CD4 cell count measured within the first 90 days of HIV diagnosis. Forty-eight percent had AD and 23% had LP. Risk factors for presentation with AD were male sex, age >30 years, Fula and Mandinga ethnicity. HIV-2 and HIV-1/2 dually infected patients had lower risk of AD compared with HIV-1 infected patients. Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) was initiated for 64.4% of patients, those with AD progression had a 3.82 times higher mortality compared to patients with non-LP.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of HIV infected patients presented late. Most of the late-presenters had advanced disease and patients with advanced disease had a very high mortality. Initiatives to enroll patients in care at an earlier point are needed and should focus on risk groups.
Bandim Health Project, Indepth Network, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau; Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark; Department of Clinical Immunology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Bo Langhoff
BL
Hønge
Bandim Health Project, Indepth Network, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau; Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Sanne
S
Jespersen
Bandim Health Project, Indepth Network, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau; Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Johanna
J
Aunsborg
Bandim Health Project, Indepth Network, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Delfim Vicente
DV
Mendes
National HIV Programme, Ministry of Health, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Candida
C
Medina
National HIV Programme, Ministry of Health, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
David
D
da Silva Té
Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Alex Lund
AL
Laursen
Department of Clinical Immunology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Christian
C
Erikstrup
Bandim Health Project, Indepth Network, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau; Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark; GloHAU, Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Christian
C
Wejse
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015331:Cohort Studies; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006169:Guinea-Bissau / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents
Guinea-Bissau; HIV; HIV-2; advanced disease; late presenters