Prevalence of HIV and HIV-related diseases in the adult medical wards of atertiary hospital in Durban, South Africa

Our objective was to determine the prevalence of HIV and the distribution o f HIV-related diseases among adult, medical inpatients. Consecutive admissi ons were recruited and a single ELISA assay was used to determine HIV infec tion. Demographic and clinical details were extracted from clinical records . Of 507 patients, 54% were infected with HIV of which 84% had AIDS. HIV-in fected patients were significantly younger (34.9 years) than uninfected pat ients (47.1 years) and had significantly higher risks for oral/oesophageal candidiasis (risk ratio [RR] 18.6), generalized lymphadenopathy (RR 7.1), u nexplained fever (RR 7.0), chronic diarrhoea (RR 6.2) and pulmonary tubercu losis (RR 3.1). Pulmonary tuberculosis was present in 56% of HIV cases. Mor tality was 22%, for HIV cases and 9% (P=0.016) for others. The mean length of hospital stay was the same for HIV-infected and uninfected patients. AID S is the most common reason for admission to adult medical wards and will i ncreasingly limit the number of beds available for non-AIDS patients.