Seroprevalence of Cytomegalovirus among HIV-Infected Adult Patients on HAART

Background/Aims: Cytomegalovirus is one of the opportunistic infections associated with significantly high morbidity and mortality among patients living with HIV/AIDS. Clinical manifestation of CMV infection is worse among HIV patients not receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) than those receiving HAART. This study is aimed at investigating the seroprevalence of CMV among HIV-infected adults on HAART.
Study Design: This is a cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: HIV Outpatient Clinic of University of Benin Teaching Hospital between April and September, 2011.
Methodology: A total of 342 HIV infected adult patients on HAART attending the HIV Outpatients Clinic of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital between April and September 2011, were screened for CMV IgG and IgM using ELISA method. Clinical stage of HIV disease and CD4+ cell counts were also evaluated. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.
Results: Of the 342 patients studied 338 (98.8%) were sero-positive for CMV IgG antibodies while 24 (7.0%) demonstrated sero-positivity for CMV IgM antibodies. The seroprevalence of CMV IgM was significantly higher in patients in WHO clinical stages 3-4 (10.9%) than those in stages 1-2 (4.7%) (p = 0.04). There is no significant statistical difference in sereoprevalences of IgG and IgM with respect to sex, age, and CD4+ cell counts.
Conclusion: Clinical stage of HIV/AID is an important risk factor for reactivation or re-infection of CMV and may prompt early diagnosis and management of active CMV infection.