Opportunistic diseases among HIV-infected patients: Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort study, 2006-2013

Abstract

Background:The frequencies of opportunistic diseases (ODs) may vary in different countries since the genetic, environmental, and social background.Methods & Materials: The Korean HIV/AIDS cohort study was initiated in 2006 to promote research on HIV infection in Korea, and to provide a logistical network to support multicenter projects on epidemiological, clinical and laboratory aspects of HIV infection in Korea. A total of 1,096 HIV-infected patients from 19 hospitals were included in this cohort study.Results: Demographic data showed median age of 46 years old, and 92.7% of male gender. The most frequent root of transmission was sexual contact (n = 953, 86.9%), followed by transfusion or blood product (n = 25, 2.3%), IV drug injection (n = 4, 0.4%) and unknown origin (n = 114, 10.4%). Candidiasis was the most prevalent opportunistic infection (n = 176, 16.1%), followed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (n = 136, 12.4%), Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (n = 121, 11.0%), CMV disease (n = 52, 4.7%) and herpes zoster (n = 44, 4.01%). Our data showed very low prevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma (n = 8, 0.7%) and toxoplasmosis (n = 4, 0.4%) comparing other cohort. When diagnosed with HIV, 13.8% of patients (n = 151) had AIDS-indicator conditions. The most common AIDS-indicator condition was Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (n = 91, 60.3%) followed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (n = 50, 33.1%) and esophageal candidiasis (n = 38, 25.2%). During the follow-up period, 26 patients (2.4%) were dead. ODs related mortality was 0.7% (n = 8); pneumonia of unknown origin (n = 4), Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (n = 2), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (n = 2) and meningitis (n = 1). Conclusion:The prevalence of ODs in Korean patients showed somewhat different from that of European, African, and American patients. Our data demonstrated tuberculosis was still one of the most important ODs in HIV-infected patients of Korea, and the prevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma and toxoplasmosis remained extremely low. ODs were not a major cause of mortality.