Incidence and clinical relevance of anaerobic bacterial infections in patients with AIDS at an infectious diseases institute.

Abstract

AIDS is characterized by a profound deterioration in the immune system that leads to an increasing likelihood that severe opportunistic infections and malignancies will occur. Study results have suggested that bacterial infection is a cause of lifethreatening illness and responsible for much morbidity in patients with AIDS [ 1]. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence, clinical course, and associated immunologic risk factors of anaerobic bacterial infections in HIV-infected patients hospitalized at our institute. Microbiology records from 1990 through 1993 were reviewed for identifying patients with local or systemic anaerobic bacterial infection. Cultures of blood, stool, or abscess drainage were performed during the evaluation of episodes that were suggestive of infection. If the same organism was recovered in multiple cultures of specimens from a single patient, it was counted only once. Propionibacterium acnes isolates were included in our analysis and were not considered as simple contaminants when at least two separate blood cultures were positive. When anaerobic infection was identified, the clinical record was reviewed for data on the patient's immunologic profile and the clinical out-