Mycoses in AIDS

Major changes are occurring in the epidemiology of opportunistic infections (OI) in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and treat ed with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). A marked decrease of minor and major OI was observed and clinical resistance of thrush to antifu ngal agents became extremely rare. Primary and secondary prophylaxis agains t Pneumocystis carinii infections can be stopped; however, the situation is less clear for other OI such as cryptococcosis or endemic mycoses. The epi demiology is dramatically different in the countries which cannot afford th e cost of HAART for the majority of patients, such as South Africa. These t opics will be discussed in this paper.