OCCURRENCE AND OUTCOME OF OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS AMONG HAART EXPERIENCED PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF KOLKATA

BACKGROUND There were about 21 lakh people living with HIV in India and number of new cases was 86,000 in 2015 as reported by UNAIDS in 2015. The scenario here is a bit different than the western population due to the differences in standard of living and access to ART. There is also insufficient knowledge regarding the burden and spectrum of opportunistic infections (01) in HIV infected populations receiving HAART. Our study was designed to estimate the prevalence and outcome of Is in HIV patients on HAART therapy at a tertiary hospital in Kolkata in order to define the local priorities. MATERIALS AND METHODS 100 patients of HIV on HAART for at least 1 year were taken up for a descriptive study with respect to the prevalence of Is and their outcome. Clinical assessment and investigations were done as per the NACO guidelines. The data was analysed using multivariate and computerised statistical methods. RESULT The mean age of 100 patients in our study was 33.8 +/- 1.10; 71% of the patients were male. Mean CD4 count was 239.9 +/- 11.25. Most common presentation was fever (64%) and weight loss (35%). Tuberculosis was the most common opportunistic infection (55%) followed by candidiasis (51%), Pneumocystis carinii 16%, cryptosporidium diarrhoea 10%, cryptococcal meningitis 6%, cerebral toxoplasmosis 2%. 74 patients were successfully treated. 12 succumbed to death, of which 3 were of tubercular meningitis and pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and 2 were of cryptococcal meningitis, cerebral toxoplasmosis and bacterial pneumonia each. Mean CD4 count of those who survived was 263.17 +/- 12.47 and those who succumbed was 133.25 +/- 21.38. This was statistically significant showing that death occurred at a lower CD4 count. CONCLUSION Our descriptive study done at a tertiary care hospital of eastern India showed that the main burden of opportunistic infections in HAART experienced HIV patients still lies on tuberculosis followed by candidiasis. However, Pneumocystis carinii and tubercular meningitis are among the leading causes of mortality.