Urinary tract infections in HIV disease

HIV-positive patients are liable to acquire opportunistic infections. Their liability to acquire other common infectious conditions is less frequently reported. In order to determine the frequency of urinary tract infections (UTI) in HIV-positive patients, we performed a retrospective analysis. The control group was formed from patients with community acquired pneumonia. We reviewed charts of 96 HIV-positive patients and of 314 patients in the control study group. The analysis has shown that patients with HIV had a UTI more frequently than the controls. Besides the difference in the frequency, we observed the difference in the etiology. Enterococci were the most frequent isolates in patients with HIV disease, whereas Escherichia coli was most frequently isolated in the controls. These facts should be taken into consideration when treatment of a UTI with suspected bacteremia in AIDS patients is initiated.