Prevalence and risk factors of anaemia in hospitalised HIV-infected patients in southeast China: a retrospective study

Mechanisms and Cardiorenal Complications of Chronic Anemia in People with HIV

Chronic anemia is more prevalent in people living with HIV (PLWH) compared to the general population. The mechanisms that drive chronic anemia in HIV are multifaceted and include functional impairment of hematopoietic stem cells, dysregulation of erythropoietin production, and persistent immune activation. Chronic inflammation from HIV infection adversely affects erythropoiesis, erythrocyte lifespan, and erythropoietin response, leading to a heightened risk of co-infections such as tuberculosis, persistent severe anemia, and increased mortality. Additionally, chronic anemia exacerbates the progression of HIV-associated nephrotoxicity and contributes to cardiovascular risk through immune activation and inflammation. This review highlights the cardinal role of chronic inflammation as a link connecting persistent anemia and cardiovascular complications in PLWH, emphasizing the need for a universal understanding of these interconnected pathways for targeted interventions.

Spectrum and mortality of opportunistic infections among HIV/AIDS patients in southwestern China

We describe the opportunistic infections (OIs) of HIV/AIDS to understand the spectrum, mortality, and frequency of multiple coinfected OIs among HIV/AIDS patients in southern China, where OIs are severe. We carried out a retrospective cohort study of hospitalized HIV-infected individuals at the Fourth People's Hospital of Nanning, Guangxi, China, from Jan. 2011 to May. 2019. The chi-square test was used to analyze cross-infection; the Kaplan‒Meier analysis was used to compare mortality. A total of 12,612 HIV-infected patients were admitted to this cohort study. Among them, 8982 (71.2%) developed one or more OIs. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 9.0%. Among the patients, 35.6% coinfected one OI, and 64.4% coinfected more than two OIs simultaneously. Almost half of the patients (60.6%) had CD4 + T-cell counts < 200 cells/μL. Pneumonia (39.8%), tuberculosis (35.3%), and candidiasis (28.8%) were the most common OIs. Coinfected cryptococcal meningitis and dermatitis are the most common combined OIs. The rate of anaemia (17.0%) was highest among those common HIV-associated complications. Multiple OIs are commonly found in hospitalized HIV/AIDS patients in southwestern China, which highlights the need for improved diagnosis and treatment.

Anemia and opportunistic infections in hospitalized people living with HIV: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

There is a high prevalence of anemia among people living with HIV in Guangxi, China. Therefore, we investigated anemia and opportunistic infections in hospitalized people living with HIV and explored the risk factors related to anemia in people living with HIV to actively prevent anemia in people living with HIV.

METHODS

We retrospectively studied people living with HIV admitted to Guangxi Chest Hospital from June 2016 to October 2021. Detailed information on the sociodemographic and clinical features of the participants was collected. The X² test was used to compare the prevalence between the anemic and non-anemic groups. The logistic regression analysis was applied to exclude confounding factors and identify factors related to anemia.

RESULTS

Among 5645 patients with HIV, 1525 (27.02%) had anemia. The overall prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe anemia was 4.66%, 14.08%, and 8.27%, respectively. The factors significantly related to increased risk of anemia were CD4 count < 50 cells/µl (aOR = 2.221, 95% CI = [1.775, 2.779]), CD4 count 50-199 cells/µl (aOR = 1.659, 95% CI = [1.327, 2. 073]), female (aOR = 1.644, 95% CI = [1.436, 1.881]) co-infected with HCV (aOR = 1.465, 95% CI = [1.071, 2.002]), PM (aOR = 2.356, 95% CI = [1.950, 2.849]), or TB (aOR = 1.198, 95% CI = [1.053, 1.365]).

CONCLUSIONS

Within Guangxi of China, 27.02% of hospitalized people living with HIV presented with anemia. Most patients with anemia were in the mild to moderate stage. The low CD4 count, female gender, and concomitant infection with Penicillium marneffei, Hepatitis C virus, or Tuberculosis were independent correlates of anemia. Thus, these findings would be helpful to clinicians in preventing and intervening in anemia in people living with HIV.

Talaromyces marneffei is the Persistent Overwhelming Bloodstream Infection Pathogen Among HIV Inpatients in Fujian, China

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology and etiological spectrums of BSI in Fujian over the past 6 years in the post antiretroviral treatment (ART) era.

Methods

A retrospective, observational study was conducted to include positive BSI inpatients with HIV between September 2015 and August 2021 in Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University, the largest designated HIV/AIDS care hospital in Fujian, China. Demographic data and laboratory data including gender, age, blood cell counts, biochemistry results, CD4 and CD8 cell counts, HIV-RNA loads, pathogen isolates, procalcitonin (PCT) levels and c-reactive protein (CRP) levels were collected. Continuous variables were expressed as median (range) and Kruskal–Wallis or Mann–Whitney test was used to analyze the differences between groups. Categorical data were expressed as numbers (percentage) and the differences between groups were analyzed by Pearson’s chi-squared test.

Results

In total, 3681 HIV inpatients with blood culture data were included and 683 strains identified from 646 inpatients were further analyzed. The median age of patients was 38 years and male accounted for 86.84%. The pooled prevalence of BSI was 18.55% (12.01%–22.36% during the six-year period). The overall isolated rate of Talaromyces marneffei (TM) in blood culture was 12.42% (8.3%–15.00% during the study period). TM was the persistent dominant BSI pathogen from 2015 to 2021 (accounting for 63.04% to 71.43%), followed by Cryptococcus neoformans (responsible for 10.00% to 20.83%). Compared to patients with other organisms BSI, those with TM BSI were younger and had lower CD4 counts, WBC counts, HB and CRP level, but higher HIVRNA loads.

Conclusion

BSI is still a major problem in the post ART era in hospitalized patients with HIV/AIDS in Fujian, China. TM is the predominant pathogen. This underlines the importance of an early diagnosis of opportunistic pathogen to avoid BSI in HIV-infected populations with a low immune status.

Prevalence of anaemia and the associated factors among hospitalised people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy in Southwest China: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To estimate anaemia prevalence and the associated factors among hospitalised people living with HIV (PLHIV) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART).

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

PLHIV receiving ART and hospitalised in a specialised hospital for infectious disease in Guizhou Province, Southwest China, between 1 January 2018 and 31 March 2021.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 6959 hospitalised PLHIV aged ≥18 years and receiving ART were included in this study.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Anaemia was diagnosed as a haemoglobin concentration <120 g/L for non-pregnant females and <130 g/L for males. Mild, moderate and severe anaemia were diagnosed as below the gender-specific lower limit of normal but ≥110 g/L, 80-110 g/L and <80 g/L, respectively.

RESULTS

The prevalence of anaemia was 27.5%, and that of mild, moderate and severe anaemia was 9.2%, 12.2% and 6.1%, respectively. Results from multivariate logistic regression showed that females had increased odds of anaemia (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.60, 95% CI: 1.42 to 1.81) compared with males. Widowed or divorced inpatients (anaemia: aOR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.47; severe anaemia: aOR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.16 to 1.97) and thrombocytopenia inpatients (anaemia: aOR=4.25, 95% CI: 3.54 to 5.10; severe anaemia: aOR=4.16, 95% CI: 3.24 to 5.35) had increased odds of anaemia and severe anaemia compared with their counterparts. Hepatitis C was associated with increased odds of severe anaemia (aOR=1.80, 95% CI: 1.11 to 2.92).

CONCLUSIONS

Anaemia was prevalent among hospitalised PLHIV. Female sex, those widowed or divorced, and thrombocytopenia were associated with increased odds of anaemia, and those widowed or divorced, thrombocytopenia and hepatitis C were associated with increased odds of severe anaemia. Determination of anaemia predictors, early detection and timely management of anaemia are crucial to prevent anaemia progression.

High Prevalence of Anemia among Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients: A Cross-sectional Study in Bali-Indonesia

Anemia is a common condition found among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected patients. T-cells that are infected with HIV virus can directly suppress the growth of progenitor cells in the bone marrow so that affecting the hemopoiesis resulted in anemia. These hematological abnormalities could potentially cause serious clinical implications. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of anemia in HIV-infected patients in Bali. It was ahospital based cross-sectional studyconducted at two public hospital in Bali-Indonesia. A total of 243 medical record data from HIV-infected patients atWangaya Hospital Denpasar Bali and Sanjiwani Hospital Gianyar Bali between 2009 -2017 were included in analysis. Prevalence of anemia in antiretroviral (ART)-naïve patients and in patients on ART were 60.8% and 40.3%, respectively. Leucopenia and thrombocytopenia were found 8.2% and 9.4%, respectively, in ART-naïve group. While in patients with ART group leucopenia and thrombocytopenia were accounted for 6.9% and 4.3%, respectively. There was a significant difference in prevalence of anemia between ART-naïve patients and patients on ART (60.8% vs. 40.3%; p < 0.05). Although the prevalence of anemia was lower in patients on ART, but anemia continues to be common in a substantial portion of HIV-infected persons. Another studies are still needed to addressing the impact of anemia on HIV-infected individuals, as well as treatment strategies and future research directions.

Malaria and intestinal parasite co-infection and its association with anaemia among people living with HIV in Buea, Southwest Cameroon: A community-based retrospective cohort study

Background

Both malaria and intestinal parasites are endemic in Cameroon, and their co-infection can be of great impact on anaemia among people living with HIV (PLWH). This community-based retrospective cohort study determined the prevalence and association of infections with anaemia in PLWH and HIV-negative individuals in Buea, Cameroon from March to August 2019.

Methods

The study population comprised of 190 PLWH and 216 consenting HIV-negative individuals from the Buea community. Participants were examined clinically, the collected blood sample was used for malaria parasite (MP) detection, HIV diagnosis and haemoglobin (Hb) measurement while stool samples were examined for the detection of intestinal parasites (IPs). Proportions were compared using Pearson’s Chi-square test and association of anaemia with independent variables was evaluated using logistic regression analysis.

Results

Out of the 406 participants, MP, IPs and MP/IP co-infection prevalences were 15.5%, 13.0% and 3.0% respectively. PLWH had a higher prevalence of MP (16.3%, P = 0.17), IPs (23.7%, P ˂ 0.001) and MP/IPs co-infection (3.7%, P = 0.04) when compared with HIV-negative participants. Similarly, PLWH had significantly lower mean haemoglobin value (11.10 ± 1.54 g/dL) than their HIV-negative counterparts (12.45 ± 2.06 g/dL). Also, PLWH co-infected with MP and IPs were observed to have a significantly lower mean haemoglobin value (10.6 ± 1.21 g/dL). PLWH had a significantly (P ˂ 0.001) higher prevalence of mild (56.8%), moderate (18.4%) and severe (1.6%) anaemia when compared with HIV-negative counterparts. The significant risk factors associated with anaemia included being febrile (P = 0.03), MP-infected only (P = 0.001), HIV-infected only (P < 0.001), having dual (P < 0.001) or triple-infections (P = 0.03).

Conclusion

Malaria and intestinal parasites remain public health concerns among PLWH and anaemia as a serious haematological abnormality gets exacerbated even with the viral load suppression. Hence, routine medical check-ups among PLWH are recommended.