Abstract
Because of the paucity of information regarding the natural history of HIV infection in women, the objective of this study was to investigate possible differences in rates of opportunistic infections in women as compared to men with AIDS. To accomplish this, an analysis of existing AIDS cases from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) AIDS Surveillance Dataset was carried out. This includes demographic data and information on the opportunistic infections diagnosed in all AIDS cases reported to CDC through December 1990.
Of the 23 opportunistic infections (OIs) defined by the CDC as manifestations of HIV infection in adults, 19 (83%) had significantly different prevalence among women and men (6 higher in women, 13 higher in men). When gay and bisexual men are removed from the analysis, all women and heterosexual men have less divergent OI prevalence; however, significant differences still exist in 12 of 23 OIs (52%) between all women and heterosexual men. When women and men were compared within transmission category (IVDU and heterosexual contact), again, they had less divergent OI prevalence. When the opportunistic infections among women were compared by 2 transmission categories (IV drug use and heterosexual contact), 8 (34%) were found to be significantly different. Thus transmission category may be an important variable in the spectrum of opportunistic infections women get. From this CDC data set, it appears that women with AIDS indeed present with some OIs with different rates than those of men. This data set does have limitations, which are explored in the article.
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