HIV-Associated Oral Lesions in HIV-Seropositive Patients at an HIVTreatment Clinic in South Africa

Abstract

Introduction: Oral lesions may be the first indicator of HIV infection or of HIV-disease progression. Few studies have characterized oral lesions in HIV-seropositive South Africans receiving HAART. This aim of this study is to define the prevalence of HIV-associated oral lesions in a South African population sample and to investigate the relationship between these lesions and gender, age, CD4+ T-cell count, neutrophil count, viral load, type of HAART, and alcohol and tobacco use. Methods: Four hundred and thirty five patients were interviewed and examined. Additional data was obtained from their hospital files. Descriptive statistics and Chi-squared tests with p<0.05 considered as significant, were applied. Results: Four hundred and eighteen participants (96%) were on HAART. Thirty-two (7%) had oral lesions strongly associated with HIV infection and 24 (6%) had ‘other lesions’. Some presented with multiple lesions. A total of 41 oral lesions associated with HIV infection were recorded and of these, oral candidiasis was the most common (68%). No relationships existed between the presence of oral lesions associated with HIV infection and gender, age, neutrophil count and alcohol and tobacco use. Conclusions: The prevalence of oral lesions strongly associated with HIV-infection in this study population was significantly associated with CD4+ T cell count, viral load and the type of antiretroviral treatment.