Cellular immunity and diarrhoeal disease amongst patients infected with the human immunodeficiency viruses 1 and 2 in Zaria, Nigeria.

This study was carried out to determine the aetiological agents associated with diarrhoea in Nigerians infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Viruses, and to correlate the cellular immunity status with the causes of diarrhoea. The mean duration of diarrhoea was 20.7 weeks. Giardia lamblia was the commonest pathogen and was isolated from the stools of 10 patients (25%). Isospora belli was isolated in 3 of the patients (7.5%) but in none of the controls. Other pathogens isolated include salmonella spp. (12.5%), Entamoeba histolytica (7.5%), hookworm (5%), and shigella spp. (5%). No pathogens were identified in seventeen cases (42.5%). No statistically significant difference was established in the stool microbiological findings of the cases and controls. No statistically significant relationship was established between stool microbiological findings and cellular immunity in the patients (ANOVA P > 0.05). It was concluded that the organisms associated with diarrhoea in the HIV-infected patient are similar to those found in HIV-seronegative patients with diarrhoea, and that there is no correlation between the degree of immunodeficiency and the aetiology of diarrhoea.