Epidemiology and Clinical Features of HIV Infection/AIDS in Korea

Abstract

HIV infection/AIDS shows characteristic epidemiological and clinical patterns according to the region, country, and race. The epidemiological and clinical patterns of HIV infection/ AIDS in Korea was investigated by retrospectively analyzing the medical records of 176 HIV-infected persons who visited two major referral hospitals of AIDS in Korea from 1985 to April 2000. The most common transmission route was heterosexual contact (52.3%), followed by homosexual contact (23.9%). Among the opportunistic diseases, candidiasis was the most prevalent (21.6%), followed by Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (15.9%), tuberculosis (12.5%), and CMV infection (9.1%). The most common initial AIDS-defining opportunistic disease was tuberculosis (33.3%). The most common causes of death were tuberculosis (25.7%) and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (25.7%). This study describes the epidemiological and clinical patterns of HIV infection/AIDS in Korea, which not only enables us to accurately understand HIV infection/ AIDS in this country, but eventually to aid in establishing effective preventive measures and treatment guidelines in Korea.

Parasitic infections in HIV-infected patients who visited Seoul National University Hospital during the period 1995-2003

“…Oocysts of C. parvum or I. belli were detected in 3.5% (4/115) and invasive amebiasis in 3.1% (6/195) of HIV-infected patients (Oh et al, 2000). With regard to PCP, our results were higher than the results previously reported in the Republic of Korea; 10.4% (18/173) or 15.9% (28/176) (Kim et al, 2003) of HIVinfected patients.…”

“…In the Republic of Korea, it was reported that 10.4% of 173 HIV-infected patients and 15.9% of 176 patients (Kim et al, 2003) developed PCP. In our study, samples for the diagnosis of P. carinii infection were collected from HIV-infected and suspected to suffer from PCP.…”

“…Candidiasis and herpes virus infections were common gastrointestinal tract infections among the HIV-infected patients Kim et al, 2003), however, no studies have focused specifically on opportunistic parasitic infections. Thus, the present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of parasitic infections among HIV-infected patients in the Republic of Korea.…”

Frontal Glucose Hypometabolism in Abstinent Methamphetamine Users

“…Furthermore, as Korean drug users can easily obtain syringes in pharmacies, only 1.1% of HIV infection is due to i.v. drug use in Korea (Kim et al, 2003). Additionally, we could not find any differences of brain volume between MA subjects and healthy comparison subjects, while patients with HIV infection have been reported to have smaller brain volumes, even in an asymptomatic state (Stout et al, 1998).…”

AIDS-related Gastrointestinal Kaposi Sarcoma in Korea: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…4 Its gastrointestinal in- cell count and were classified as poor risk group as ACTG staging system according to tumor extent (T), severity of immunosuppression (I) and other systemic HIV-1-associated illness (S). 13 The most common site of gastrointestinal KS was the stomach (all cases), followed by esophagus (4 of 6 cases).…”