Clinical Study of Newly Diagnosed HIV Patients with Special Reference to Skin Manifestations and Its Correlation with CD4 Counts

Background: It is found that skin problems are always compounded together with the high prevalence of HIV. 90% of the people living with HIV have changes in their skin and symptoms during the disease course. HIV associated skin diseases were related to multiple factors like differences in skin pigmentation, genetic, climate, hygiene, demographic, environmental, behavioral factors etc. Many studies have found the correlation between the CD4 counts and the mucocutaneous lesions. Some studies have also found the correlation of the disease with the Clinical stage. The main aim of the study is to study the clinical profile of the newly diagnosed HIV patients with the mucocutaneous lesions and to find its correlation with the CD4 cell counts. Methods: The study was carried out at Assam Medical College & and Hospital, Dibrugarh, India for a period of 12 months. A prospective, observational, cross-sectional, study was carried out in the inpatient and outpatient medicine departments. The total sample size was calculated to be 90. Results: Most of the dermatological manifestations were common in the CD4 counts between 201-500 Group III with 45 cases followed by 50-200 Group II where the cases were 22 indicating that skin manifestations like oral candidiasis occur early in the disease and requires screening for HIV. Among the skin manifestations statistically significant association with the CD4 counts was found in Oral candidiasis (p=0.02), Genital Herpes (p=0.04) and Pruritic papular manifestations (p<0.001). Conclusion: it is concluded that the mucocutaneous manifestations can serve as a prognostic and diagnostic marker for the HIV disease. We can also easily predict the stage of the disease and the immune status and can start the treatment which will tend to decrease the morbidity and will increase the quality of life.