Study of aetiology of anemia in HIV positive individuals

Abstract

Background: HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic. As of 2014, approximately 37 million people have HIV worldwide with the number of new infections that year being about 2 million. This is down from 3.1 million new infections in 2001. The objective of the study was to study the immunological status as indicated by the CD4 count and aetiology of anemia in HIV positive individuals.Methods: This study was carried out on 100 consecutive HIV patients in the Department of Medicine, Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences Bellary, Karnataka during the period from October 2014 to May 2016.Results: In this study, 100 patients with HIV infection and anemia were studied to find the etiology of anemia in HIV positive patients Only patients with Hb less than 10 g/dl (moderate to severe grade) were included in this study. 42% patient had moderate grade anemia and 58% had severe grade anemia patient mild grade anemia was excluded. 13 patient had their MCV <76 fl. 60 patient had their MCV between 76-96 fl and 27% had their MCV of >96 fl. 54% of patient had anemia due to chronic disease.Conclusions: 54% of patient had anemia due to chronic disease, 12% had iron deficiency anemia, 11% had anemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency, 22 % had anemia due to zidovudine induced anemia and 1 patient had anemia due hemolysis.