HIV Related Pulmonary Manifestations among Egyptian patients

Abstract

Human immune deficiency virus (HIV) is the causative agent of AIDS which remains a threat to the developing world. according to global report, At the end of 2019,81% of people living with HIV knew their IV status, and more than two thirds (67%) were on antiretroviral therapy, equal to an estimated 25.4 million [24.5 million–25.6 million] of the 38.0 million people living with HIV—a number that has more than tripled since 2010(1). Egypt remains a low prevalence country among general populations, By the end of 2018, the total number of people living with HIV was estimated to be 16,000, while 1,806 new cases out of about 2300 newly detected in 2018 were introduced to ART in 2018, bringing the total to about 6,500 individuals on treatment, a significant two-fold increase compared 2016(108). The ministry of health and population reported in 2020 over 13000 Egyptians are living with AIDS(1). Pulmonary disease is a major contributor to the morbidity and mortality suffered by persons infected with HIV. It was the appearance of previously rare Pneumocytis pneumonia often accompanied by Kaposis sarcoma in previously healthy young gay men, intravenous drugs addicts and their sexual contacts that alerted the world to the new syndrome of the acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) caused by HIV (2-6). Before combination anti retroviral treatment (cART) became available a high proportion of HIV infected individuals would experience respiratory symptoms, Lung disease was often the first presentation for the patients with HIV. In general the incidence of serious pulmonary disease has declined following the wide availability of ART(7-11). HIV-infected persons experience a gradual but persistent loss of host immunity after infection that results in a syndrome of immune deregulation, dysfunction, and deficiency after initial infection, HIV leads to massive depletion of CD4 lymphocytes of the effector memory type from mucosal associated lymphoid tissue (7).