TRANSFUSION-ASSOCIATED AIDS IN MEXICO - CLINICAL SPECTRUM, CONDITIONAL LATENCY DISTRIBUTION, AND SURVIVAL

There is very little information on the clinical spectrum and the incu bation period among AIDS patients in Latin America. This study reports the clinical spectrum, survival, and the incubation period for a grou p of Mexican patients infected with HIV-1 as a result of contaminated blood transfusion. We analyzed data from 39 patients of whom date of t ransfusion and diagnosis were known. The clinical spectrum of the dise ase was compared with a group of AIDS Mexican patients infected by sex ual route. The prevalence distribution of opportunistic infections was similar in both groups. However, there was a significant difference i n the distribution of opportunistic malignancies, i.e., Kaposi's sarco ma was observed only in the homosexual group. AIDS developed within 48 months after infection (3% within 12 months after transfusion, 50% wi thin 29 months, 75% within 36 months, and the remaining within four ye ars). The mean survival was of nine months after AIDS was diagnosed. O nce the diagnosis of AIDS is made, the survival in this group of AIDS Mexican patients was similar to that observed in other HIV-1 exposed r isk groups in Mexico. These findings suggest that the route of exposur e to HIV-1 may have prognostic implications in the natural history of this infection in the Mexican population.