Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics of New Cases of HIV/AIDS Identified between 2011-2016 at a Tertiary Hospital, in Mexico City

Abstract

Nowadays, HIV infections and AIDS cases are on the increase in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The associated risk factors for developing AIDS have been: Alcoholism, drug use, malnutrition, comorbidities and semi-illiteracy. The objective of the study was to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of new cases of HIV/AIDS and to look for the possible factors associated with AIDS in patients treated at a tertiary hospital in Mexico City. A descriptive, retrospective study conducted from 2011 to 2016 that included new cases of HIV/AIDS in patients that were admitted for the first time to a third-level medical unit in Mexico City. In all cases, Enzyme-Linked Immunoenzymatic Assays were performed (EIA), Western Blot test, viral load, CD4 lymphocyte count, viral panel for Hepatitis B, C, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) and other viruses were investigated. The male gender was the predominant with 87.5%, the average age was 32.3 years and most of them just have the basic education. Regarding sexual preference, 60% fall into the category of men who have sex with men. Some of the identified risk factors associated with AIDS include: Co-infection with (HSV) and tuberculosis (RMP 4.61 and 2.24, respectively), patients with antiretroviral treatment initiation (RMP 1.41) and viral load with more than 100,000 copies (RMP 3.18). Risk factors associated with AIDS that are found in the population studied include: Coinfection and educational level which are similar to that reported in several studies, although, it is not applicable to the rest of the factors found. The timely identification of this disease is of great importance to avoid, as much as possible, its advancement to the stage of AIDS, with the intention of avoiding complications, reducing mortality and reducing the high costs that this pathology generates.