Title: Opportunistic infections in patients living with HIV/AIDS

Biography:

Abstract

Background: HIV/AIDS is an exceptional epidemic that requires an exceptional response. Material and method: There are in active evidence 371 patients, 288 of them being with antiretroviral therapy. We present the situation of newly diagnosed cases in the last five years in Cluj, in association with the CD4 count and the opportunistic infections. The opportunistic infections were in most of the cases correlated with the CD4 count. Most of the patients were asymptomatic at the moment of the diagnosis. In patients with CD4 count over 500/cmm, the percentage of opportunistic infections was bigger for respiratory lower tract infections (22%), followed by CMV retinitis (11%) and diarrhea (5%). The patients diagnosed in AIDS stage, with CD4 count under 200/cmm presented especially esophageal candidiasis (15%), followed by pulmonary and lymph node tuberculosis (8%), syphilis (7%). Opportunistic infections of the nervous system were represented, in 2-4% of the cases, by cerebral toxoplasmosis and cryptococosis. Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia was detected in 3-7% of cases. The severe infections characteristic to AIDS stages were represented by candidiasis (28%), cryptococal meningitis, cerebral toxoplasmosis (in 4% of cases) and reactivation of Varicella virus (in 10% of cases). In conclusion, the number of newly detected HIV/AIDS patients is gradually increasing; most of them are being with severe opportunistic infections at the time of the diagnosis. Except the opportunistic infections, the most common clinical condition was wasting syndrome. All the infections were correlated with the immune status, with no particular aspects.