Influence of HIV infection on the clinical presentation and outcome of adults with acute community-acquired pneumonia in Yaounde, Cameroon: a retrospective hospital-based study

Medical files of 106 patients (51 men) aged 15？years and above, admitted to the Pneumology service of the Yaounde Jamot Hospital between January 2008 and May 2012, were retrospectively studied.Sixty-two (58.5%) patients were HIV infected. The median age of all patients was 40？years (interquartile range: 31.75-53) and there was no difference in the clinical and radiological profile of patients with and without HIV infection. The median leukocyte count (interquartile range) was 14,600/mm3 (10,900-20,600) and 10,450/mm3 (6,400-16,850) respectively in HIV negative and HIV positive patients (p？=？0.002). Median haemoglobin level (interquartile range) was 10.8？g/dl (8.9-12) in HIV negative and 9.7？g/dl (8–11.6) in HIV positive patients (p？=？0.025). In-hospital treatment failure on third day (39.5% vs. 25.5.1%, p？=？0.137) and mortality rates (9% vs. 14.5%, p？=？0.401) were similar between HIV negative and HIV positive patients.Clinical and radiological features as well as response to treatment and in hospital fatal outcomes are similar in adult patients hospitalised with acute community-acquired pneumonia in Yaounde. In contrast, HIV infected patients tend to be more anaemic and have lower white cell counts than HIV negative patients. Larger prospective studies are needed to consolidate these findings.Acute community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)[1-3], where it is highly frequent in people with HIV infection [4]. The possible effects of HIV infection on the evolution of CAP are still controversial. For instance, whether HIV infection negatively impacts on fatal outcome in patients with CAP is still uncertain [1,3,5-7], justifying at times the exclusion of HIV patients from trials on CAP [6]. In spite of the proven efficacy of empirical antibiotic treatment on CAP in people with HIV [8-10], the management of the condition in SSA is still compromised by the lack of bacteriological investigations. Moreover, the