Oral manifesto of HIV/AIDS in Plateau state indigenes, Nigeria

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To investigate the prevalence of oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS involving HIV positive Plateau State indigenous adults attending a Special Treatment Clinic serving referred cases and in-patient cases hospitalized in the Medical wards in JUTH, Jos. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. RESULTS: A total of 261 patients confirmed for HIV infection were examined. The age range was 17 - 80 years, mean = 35.6 +/- 9.27 (SD). 59.4% were females and 40.6% were males. Oral lesions attributable to HIV/ AIDS infection were found in 109 (41.8%) patients, 38 (34.9%) of these patients had multiple lesions. Oral lesions were diagnosed more frequently in women (59.6%) than in men (p=0.945). Oral candidiasis was the most common presentation (35.7%) with pseudomembraneous candidiasis (23%) and angular cheilitis (10%) being the most common variants. All the cases of erythematous candidiasis (n=7) were exclusively seen in the female population. Oral hairy leukoplakia and xerostomia were present in 4.6% and 3.8% of cases respectively. Kaposi's Sarcoma was in 5 (1.9%) patients. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HIV-related oral lesions (HIV-ROL) in a hospital based adult population of Plateau State indigenes in Jos is 41.8%. Oral Candidiasis is the most common HIV-ROL detected and this agrees with most reported findings.