TRENDS IN AIDS-RELATED OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS AMONG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN AND AMONG INJECTING DRUG-USERS, 1991-1996

Incidence trends for the 13 most frequent AIDS-defining opportunistic infections (OIs) among men who have sex with men (MSM, n = 15,588) and injecting drug users (IDUs, n = 4475) were examined using data abstra cted from medical records in >90 hospitals and clinics in nine US citi es during 1991-1996, Among MSM, the most frequent OIs were Mycobacteri um avium complex (MAC) disease, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis; decreasing (P less than or equal to.05) trends occurred for 11 OIs (MAC disease, PCP, CMV retinitis, Ka posi's sarcoma, esophageal candidiasis, CMV disease, extrapulmonary cr yptococcosis, toxoplasmic encephalitis, tuberculosis, chronic herpes s implex, and disseminated histoplasmosis). Among IDUs, the most frequen t OIs were PCP, MAC disease, and esophageal candidiasis; decreasing tr ends occurred for 5 OIs (PCP, esophageal candidiasis, tuberculosis, ch ronic herpes simplex, and chronic cryptosporidiosis) and an increase o ccurred in recurrent pneumonia. The differences in trends for MSM and IDUs may be due to differences in medical fare and adherence to preven tive medications.