All patients suspected to have meningitis had a high HIV sero positivity irrespective of whether they were later confirmed to have meningitis or not. CM was the most common type of meningitis seen. In-hospital mortality was high irrespective of the cause of meningitis.

To determine whether increased dietary iron could be a risk factor for active tuberculosis, dietary iron history and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status were studied in 98 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and in 98 control subjects from rural Zimbabwe. Exposure to high levels of dietary iron in the form of traditional beer is associated with increased iron stores in rural Africans. HIV seropositivity was associated with a 17.3-fold increase in the estimated odds of developing active tuberculosis (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 7.4-40.6; P<.001), and increased dietary iron was associated with a 3.5-fold increase (95% CI, 1.4-8.9; P=.009). Among patients treated for tuberculosis, HIV seropositivity was associated with a 3.8-fold increase in the estimated hazard ratio of death (95% CI, 1.0-13.8; P=.046), and increased dietary iron was associated with a 1.3-fold increase (95% CI, 0.4-6.4; P=.2). These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that elevated dietary iron may increase the risk of active pulmonary tuberculosis.

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E. bieneusi infection was common in HIV-infected patients with diarrhea in Zimbabwe and may be acquired through person-to-person and fecal-oral transmission.

A prospective observational study was conducted over a 10-month period to determine the clinical and laboratory manifestations of cryptococcal meningitis in Zimbabwe, a country where antifungal agents are not widely available. Eighty-nine patients with cryptococcal meningitis (median age, 34 years; range, 11-63 years; 56 males) were identified from 406 patients for whom a clinical diagnosis of meningitis had been made. All patients tested were positive for antibody to human immunodeficiency virus. Cryptococcal meningitis was the first AIDS-defining illness in 88% of patients. Typical presentations were headache, mental impairment, and meningism (median duration, 14 days; range, 1-180 days). The median CD4+ cell count was 70/microL (range, 0-651/microL). The cumulative median survival from the time of diagnosis was 14 days (range, 0-233 days); 22% of patients survived for >30 days. Independent indicators of a good prognosis were not identified. This study provides a unique basis for the development of novel management strategies for patients with cryptococcal meningitis who reside in resource-poor countries.

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Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in African children presents acutely or subacutely, can have a fulminant picture and is consistent with progressive meningoencephalitis.