Relationship between immunoclinical status and prevalence of viral sexually transmitted diseases among human immunodeficiency virus-1 seropositive patients in Ghana
Jam. Brandful et al., Relationship between immunoclinical status and prevalence of viral sexually transmitted diseases among human immunodeficiency virus-1 seropositive patients in Ghana, VIRAL IMMUN, 12(2), 1999, pp. 131-137
In view of the strong association between the acquired immunodeficiency syn
drome (AIDS) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), we screened 182 huma
n immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infected patients over a 15-month period f
or serological markers to previously encountered or current STDs, most of v
iral etiology. The relationship between their immunological and clinical st
atus and the prevalence of STDs was assessed and compared with that of 88 H
N-seronegative patients. Hepatitis B virus and Treponema pallidum were the
most frequently occurring pathogens in both HIV-l-infected and HIV-seronega
tive patients. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was also observed in both
groups, but no HIV-seronegative patient was infected with human T-lymphotro
pic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). The Centers for Disease Control clinical staging
of Al through C3, representing asymptomatic to severe AIDS conditions, was
observed in HIV-1 patients with or without STDs. A mean CD4 count of 288 c
ells per microliter (95% CI of 237-340 cells per microliter) in HIV-1 patie
nts was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that in HIV-seronegative indivi
duals with 1019 cells per microliter (95% CI of 924-1115 cells per microlit
er), irrespective of whether subjects in either group had previous or curre
nt STDs. The mean CD4 count of patients with a single infection from HIV-1
was not significantly different (P = 0.36) from that of HIV-1 patients with
multiple infections. HIV-1 infection alone appears to be responsible for t
he marked immunodeficiency status of seropositive patients observed in this
study.