Epidemiological Patterns of AIDS in a Reference Center from Catanduva, S&amp;#227;o Paulo State, Brazil

Arlindo Schiesari Jr,Adriana Antônia Da Cruz Furini,Vanessa Maria Brogio Schiesari,Ricardo Luiz Dantas Machado,Luciana Ventura Cardoso,Kátia Jaira Galisteu,Andrea Regina Baptista Rossit

doi:10.4236/ojmm.2012.23007

Abstract

Objective: Hereby we present the epidemiological and clinical profile of HIV-infected population before and during the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era from a tertiary care hospital in the Southeastern region of Brazil. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out, this involved the analysis of the medi-cal records of patients diagnosed with HIV-1/AIDS admitted to Hospital Escola Emilio Carlos, located in the munici-pality of Catanduva, State of S?o Paulo, Brazil. Results: In both pre-HAART and HAART periods, HIV-1 infection was more prevalent in men. Heterosexuality and secondary education were associated with AIDS in the HAART period. Statistically significant association was only observed for co-infection with HIV-1/Hepatitis C in the pre-HAART era and the number of patients with opportunistic infection (OI) was lower in the HAART period. Among all OI it is worth mentioning pulmonary pneumocystosis, which despite being common in two periods, its occurrence was considerably greater in the pre-HAART era. Concerning the distribution of OIs according to the HIV-1 viral load and serial count of T CD4+ lymphocytes, a significant association was observed. The association between the number of deaths by OIs and death in the 1st year of diagnosis in the HAART treatment was significant. Conclusions: The clinical and epidemiological profile of a specialized HIV-1/AIDS center in Catanduva, Southeastern Brazilian region, is consistent with the epidemiology of AIDS in the country.

Highlights

Almost 30 years after the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection (HIV-1) is still a serious world health problem
A retrospective, cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out. This involved the analysis of the medical records of patients diagnosed with HIV-1/AIDS admitted to Hospital Escola Emílio Carlos, located in the municipality of Catanduva, State of São Paulo, Brazil
HIV-1 infection was more prevalent in men (75.4% and 59.9% in pre-highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and HAART periods), but there has been a considerable increase in the infection rate among women in the HAART period (P = 0.03)

Summary

Introduction

Almost 30 years after the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection (HIV-1) is still a serious world health problem. An estimated 33.4 million people around the world carry the virus, and, in 2008 alone, there were 2 million AIDS-related deaths [1]. Despite these alarming statistics, the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which has been available since 1996, has revolutionized the treatment of HIV-1 infection and allowed the control of the disease in the long term, signifycantly reducing the frequency of OI and death related AIDS [2,3]. In 1996, the country has drawn worldwide attention for its decision of making HAART available to all AIDS patients, which has substantially contributed to reduce mortality and increase the survival rate of the referred population [10], according to the international standard

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Conclusion