[Spectrum of opportunistic infections in subjects infected with HIV at Libreville, Gabon].

This retrospective study (1992-1996) was carried out in the Internal Medicine Department of the Jeanne Ebori Foundation at Libreville. We analyzed 351 files with the aim of counting the numbers of cases of various opportunistic infections and estimating the frequencies of these infections. The prevalence of seropositivity for HIV was 27.7% in the hospital population. Young adults from modest socioeconomic backgrounds were found to consult at stage IV of the infection. Oropharyngeal candidiasis (37%), zona (18.5%), salmonellosis (18.2%) and tuberculosis (14.5%) were the most frequently diagnosed opportunistic infections. Intestinal parasitoses, cryptococcosis, radiculomeningitis, cerebral toxoplasmosis and visceral fungal infections were diagnosed less frequently. The prevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma was 6.3%. Most of the opportunistic infections encountered were treatable but the mortality rate was high (11.7%) due to late diagnosis, the lack of availability of drugs and the poor economic conditions of the population.