Prevalence of Oropharyngeal Candidiasis among HIV Patients Attending ART Clinic, Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) Kano - Nigeria

Aims: To determine the prevalence of oral candida infection among HIV positive patients attending ART clinic of infectious disease hospital Kano and to establish the relationship between oral manifestations and the level of immunosuppression.

Study Design: The study design comprised of pre-test counselling, informed consent, collection of oral swab and sputum, clinical evaluation and recording of demographic information (such as age, sex, marital status, occupation, present address and smoking).

Place and Duration of Study: A total of 120 HIV positive patients attending ART clinic of infectious disease hospital (IDH) Fagge, Kano State-Nigeria were used for the study between October 2016 to January 31, 2017.

Methodology: 120 HIV positive patients were examined for candida infection by direct and laboratory based methods. CD4 T-cell counts were also done using flow cytometry.

Statistical Analysis: Results were subjected to correlation and chi-square test using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22.

Results: Chi square test shows that 30 out of the 120 (25%) samples were positive for the infection. The distribution of patients with oral candida infection in relation to gender shows that more males were infected than females 20 (41.7%) and 10 (13.8%) respectively. Findings from this research have shown that, ART usage was 23 (22.5%) out 102(100%) among patients with candida infection and 81(77.5%) out of 102(100%) among patients without candida infection. A significantly higher prevalence of candida infection, 7(53.8%) out of 13 was observed among patients with CD4 count of ≤200 cells/ μL followed by 13(27.7%) out of 47 among patients with 200-500 cells/μL and 16.7% (10 out of 60) among patients with >500 cells/μL, respectively (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Treatment of opportunistic infections is key to successful ART program and in mitigating the impact if HIV/AIDS in resource constraint settings.