INCIDENCE OF CLINICAL AIDS CONDITIONS IN A COHORT OF HOMOSEXUAL MEN WITH CD4(-THAN-100() CELL COUNTS LESS)MM(3)/

Incidence rates of AIDS illnesses are described among patients with le ss than or equal to 100 CD4 cells/mm(3) grouped by use of antiretrovir als and chemoprophylaxis. Data were obtained from 2646 homosexual men infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Participants were i n the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study during 1985-1993. The incidence ra tes per 100 person-years for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia were 47.4 without treatment, 21.5 with antiretrovirals alone, and 12.8 with anti retrovirals combined with chemoprophylaxis. For Kaposi's sarcoma these rates were 23.2, 11.3, and 15.1, respectively. The incidence of some opportunistic infections, including Mycobacterium avium complex, nonre tinitis cytomegalovirus disease, and cytomegalovirus retinitis, increa sed among persons receiving P. carinii pneumonia prophylaxis, because of reduction of this pneumonia and extension of life span. The inciden ce pattern of AIDS-defining illnesses in patients receiving treatment points to the changing AIDS epidemic and the need for new therapies. T he data are particularly relevant to the development and planning of c linical trials and to health care providers.