NON-HIV AIDS - NATURE AND STRATEGIES FOR ITS MANAGEMENT

Despite initial claims to the contrary, a cluster of reports of severe opportunistic infections occurring in patients without evidence of HI V infection do not appear to represent a new disease entity or present evidence of epidemiologically associated cases suggesting an infectio us agent. Reported cases are reviewed and appear to represent a hetero geneous group, many of which may represent sporadic cases of late onse t acquired immunodeficiency. In addition, a small group of asymptomati c subjects have been identified with constitutively low CD4 T cell pop ulations which appear to have little or no clinical significance since these patients have no evidence of clinical immunodeficiency. Newly i dentified cases should be fully investigated immunologically and virol ogically after recovery from their presenting infection and continuous or prophylactic therapy instituted only in cases of substantiated lon g-term severe immunodeficiency.