Abstract
Opportunistic infection in HIV positive individuals has a high risk of morbidity and mortality as it could be a pointer to systemic infection. Aim: This study was designed to determine the patterns of some pathogenic fungal infections isolated from HIV positive individuals from ART clinics in south eastern Nigeria. Materials and methods: A total of 132 patients (62 males and 70 females) were recruited for this study. Their sputum samples were screened for Tuberculosis (TB) using Ziehl Nelsen staining technique and were also cultured on Sabouaurd dextrose agar with and without chloramphenicol incubated at 25℃ with examination of growth every 3 days for two weeks. Identification of isolates was done using Gram staining methods, chromogenic media and slide culture. Results: 46(34.8%) of the test subjects (132) were co-infected with TB while 94(71.2%) tested positive for fungi infection; 36(60.0%) for HIV-sero positive subjects on ART and 58(80.6%) for those not on ART (P<0.05). The prevalence of fungi isolates from test subjects shows that Candida albicans has the highest frequency of 25(26.6%), followed by Penicillum marneiffei with 18(21.6%), with the least prevalent being Aspergillus flavus and Phialemonium curvatum at 2(2.1%) respectively. In HIV-sero negative indivuals, Candida albicans was of the highest prevalence with 7(53.9%), followed by Candida tropicalis with 3(23.1%) and Aspergillus fumigatus and A. flavus with the least prevalence of 1(7.7%) respectively. Furthermore, there was a positive significant correlation between TB and fungi infection in HIV-sero positive subjects (P<0.05). Conclusion: The high prevalence of fungi infection amongst TB co-infected HIV-sero positive individuals suggests a high degree of drug resistance in said patients thus, could be the mitigating factor behind the increasing morbidity and mortality among TB co-infected HIV positive subjects.
Highlights
The Human Immune deficiency Virus (HIV) is a lentivirus that causes Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive (Doueket. al., 2009)
This study was designed to determine the patterns of some pathogenic fungal infections isolated from HIV positive individuals from antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinics of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State and Holy Rosary Hospital, Emekuku, Owerri, Imo State of South-Eastern Nigeria
Out of the 132 HIV-sero positive subjects sampled, 60 patients were on antiretroviral drugs while 72 were not on ART. 16 out of the 60 subjects on ART were TB positive while 30 out of the 72 subjects not on ART were TB positive
Summary
The Human Immune deficiency Virus (HIV) is a lentivirus (slowly replicating retrovirus) that causes Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive (Doueket. al., 2009). HIV has been found in saliva and tears in low concentrations in some AIDS patients. Contact with saliva, tears or sweat has shown to result in transmission UNAIDS and WHO estimates that AIDS has killed more than 25million people since it was first recognized in 1981, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in recorded history (UNAIDS, 2009). Despite recent improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS pandemic claimed an estimated 2.8million (between 2.4 and 3.3 million) lives in 2005 of which more than half a million (570,000) were children. Sub –Saharan Africa remains by far the worst affected region with an estimated 21.6 to 27.4 million people currently living with HIV. More than 64% of all people living with HIV are in
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