The demographic, social and clinical presentations of one hundred Ethiopian patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

The demographic, social and clinical presentation of 100 HIV positive patients hospitalized in Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between 1986 and 1989 are described. The mean age is 38.2 years with a range of 16 to 58. Over 75% of the patients are under 40 years. They came from ten different regions of Ethiopia. Only 82% of the patients fulfil the provisional World Health Organization clinical case definition of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Tuberculosis is the commonest infection, presenting in unusual and aggressive ways. However, response to chemotherapy is similar to that in HIV-negative patients. It is recommended that all patients with unusual and aggressive tuberculosis should be screened for HIV and Mantoux-positive HIV carriers should receive INH prophylaxis. Also, all non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases should be tested for HIV. Kaposi's sarcoma was not seen (see Addendum). As HIV infection is spreading rapidly and diagnostic facilities are limited, physicians and other health workers must develop a high index of suspicion to test for HIV among high risk groups, such as prostitutes, individuals having contacts with prostitutes, single, divorced and unemployed women living in towns and truck drivers, when they present with significant weight loss, unexplained and prolonged fever and diarrhoea, lymphadenopathy and oral thrush. Also, facilities and expertise for diagnosing opportunistic infections should be available in hospitals to prolong the lives of patients with AIDS.