[Isosporosis in AIDS, about five Tunisian cases]

ABSTRACT

Isosporosis is a digestive parasitosis that occurs on a sporadic basis in our country. It is caused by a protozoan of coccidia class Isospora belli. Between the years 2000 and 2004, five cases of isosporosis were diagnosed in our laboratory in five AIDS patients. Its prevalence among tunisian patients suffering from Human Iminunodeficiency Virus [HIV] infection in our series is about 1.41%. Main clinical manifestations consisted of acute diarrhea, with malabsorption syndrome in one case. Medical management based on specific antibiotics [sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprime], is efficient in avoiding recurrent episodes. However, recurrency remain frequent as long as immunity remains compromised