Human immunodeficiency virus [HIV-1] prevalence among high risk populations in Egypt

ABSTRACT

Human Immunodeficiency virus type 1 [HIV-1] has been clearly identified as the primary cause of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [AIDS]. The human CD4+ T-lymphocytes and monocytes are the major targets for HIV-1 infection in-vivo. One of the most important clinical finding in AIDS patients is the lymph node enlargement. This study evaluated diverse pathological and aetiological types of lymph node enlargements and their association with related lymphotropic viruses. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma [NPC] as a lymphotropic virus-associated disorder was also included. The presence of Epstein Barr virus [EBV], Human Herpes virus type-6 [HHV-6] and Human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus [HTLV-1] which are the most common lymphotropic viruses, and may act as co-factors with HIV-1 infection, was also investigated. An in-vitro enzyme immunoassay, for detection of antibodies to HIV-1 in human sera, was used in this study. It was found that no single case out of 133 patients with NPC or lymph node enlargement [whether malignant or not] was HIV-1 positive, although there were varying degrees of evidence of infection with other viruses