Spectrum of Opportunistic Fungal Infections in HIV-Infected Patients and Their Correlation with CD4+ Counts in Western India

The decreased level of immunity in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected patients increases their vulnerability to various opportunistic fungal infections. Oral candidiasis has been found to be the most common fungal infection among HIV infected patients. The present study was conducted to evaluate the spectrum of various opportunistic fungal infections and their correlation with CD4+ counts. A total of 163 clinically suspected cases of fungal infections with HIV seropositive status were studied. The most common infections observed were oropharyngeal candidiasis (39.26%) followed by cryptococcal meningitis (6.74%). The study showed opportunistic fungal infections in 46.6% of HIV infected patients with CD4+ counts ≤200 cell/ µl. Early diagnosis and prompt antifungal treatment is necessary to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with the infections to increase the survival of HIV infected patients.