Clinico-Epidemiological Analysis of HIV/AIDS Patients

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine clinico-epidemiological properties of HIV/AIDS patients. Materials and Methods:For this purpose, 115 HIV/AIDS patients monitored in our clinic between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2013, were retrospectively evaluated.Results: For the 115 patients with a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS that we monitored, the mean age at the time of presentation was 34.5±13.21 (10-79) years. Eighty-nine (76.5%) patients were male and 27 (23.5%), female. In this study, HIV/AIDS was the most prevalent in the young male population with a low educational and sociocultural level. The most common mode of transmission in our patients was heterosexual relations: approximately 1 patient in 3 had a history of traveling to countries with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, namely, Russia and Ukraine. The examination of diagnosis with respect to years showed an increase in new cases since 2008. Only 21 (18.3%) of our patients were diagnosed through clinical symptoms, while 91 (81.7%) during routine scanning. At first presentation, 68% of our patients were stage A; 4.7%, stage B; and 27.3%, stage C. The mean length of the monitoring of our patients was 2.74 years (2-180 months). Thirteen (11.3%) patients died due to opportunistic infections and malignities. The most common opportunistic infection was tuberculosis (16.5%), followed by syphilis and HBV. Malignity, most commonly intracranial tumor, was seen in 8.6% patients. Conclusion:The disease was generally seen in the young male population with a low sociocultural level, and it was most frequently transmitted by heterosexual sexual contact. This clearly shows the importance of sufficient, accurate information, and education on the subject of the disease and its prevention. The fact that many of our patients were diagnosed in the late stage due to stigma and that diagnosis was largely made through scanning tests confirms the importance of these tests in early diagnosis. Bulgular: HIV/AIDS tanısıyla takip ettiğimiz 115 hastanın, başvuru anındaki ortalama yaşları 34,5±13,21 (10-79) olarak bulundu. Hastalarımızın 89 (%76,5)'u erkek, 27 (%23,5)'si kadındı. Çalışmamızda HIV/ AIDS'in en fazla eğitim ve sosyokültürel düzeyi düşük olan genç erkek popülasyonunda görüldüğü tespit edildi. Hastalarımızda HIV/AIDS'in en sık bulaş yolu heteroseksüel cinsel temas olup, hastaların yaklaşık üçte birinde Rusya, Ukrayna gibi HIV/AIDS prevalansının yüksek olduğu ülkelere seyahat etme öyküsü vardı. Hastaların yıllara göre tanı alma oranları irdelendiğinde, 2008 yılından itibaren yeni vaka sayılarında artış olduğu görülmektedir. Hastalarımızın sadece 21 (%18,3)'ine klinik semptomlar ile tanı konulurken, 94 (%81,7)'üne rutin taramalar sırasında tanı konulmuştu. Hastalarımızın ilk gelişte %68'i evre A'da, %4,7'si evre B'de iken %27,3'ü evre C'de idi. Hastalarınmızın ortalama takip süreleri 2,74 yıl (2-180 ay) olup fırsatçı enfeksiyonlar ve maliniteler nedeni 13 (%11.3) hastamız hayatını kaybetmişti. En sık görülen fırsatçı enfeksiyon tüberküloz (%16.5) olup, sifiliz ve H...

Human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis coinfection: clinical features and predictors of mortality

“…An HIV positivity rate of 0.31%-0.48% among TB patients in Turkey is relatively low. In addition, coexistence of TB in 4.5% of the HIV-positive patients in this study is relatively lower than those studies from the world mentioned above and several studies from Turkey (14,15). While this may partly be explained by the lower prevalence of HIV as well as the lower and decreasing prevalence and burden of TB in Turkey (2,17,20), the low rate of HIV testing among TB patients, the common use of tuberculin skin testing and the use of prophylaxis for latent TB among HIV-positive individuals, and the unique profile of the İstanbul cohort (i.e.…”

“…A study from Turkey investigated mycobacterial infections among 383 HIV-infected patients and found mycobacterial infection in 6%, most of them being Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections (19 out of 24) (14). In another Turkish study, TB was the most common opportunistic infection (16.5%) among 115 HIV-positive individuals (15). On the contrary, TB was the third most frequent opportunistic infection (4%), preceded by oral candidiasis (15%) and P. jirovecii pneumonia (8%), in a study from the Cappadocia region of Turkey (16).…”

“…Thus, our cohort represents nearly 15% of all HIV-positive cases in Turkey. To date, data on HIV/TB coinfection in Turkey have been very limited and have mostly been dependent on official figures based on notifications and on a few publications (14)(15)(16)(17).…”

“…To date, only a few studies examined patients with HIV/TB coinfection or provided data on this condition in Turkey (14)(15)(16). This study was undertaken to identify subjects with HIV/TB coinfection in a group of HIV-positive patients followed at five different tertiary healthcare centers, and to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of those subjects as well as the predictors of mortality.…”

Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome: Epidemiological Changes in the World and Turkey

“…Hastalığın genç erkek nüfusta en sık görüldüğü gerçeği, hastalık konusu ve önlenmesi konusundaki yeterli ve doğru bilgi ve eğitimin önemini göstermektedir (17)(18)(19).…”