opportunistic infections and tumours

Last reviewed 01/2018

Patients with a CD4 count of <200x10^6 per litre are susceptible to infections by pathogens which would not normally cause disease in an immunocompetent individual.

Common opportunistic infections are:

  • Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
  • cerebral toxoplasmosis
  • oesophageal candidiasis
  • diarrhoea, pathogens including:
    • Cryptosporidium
    • CMV
    • atypical mycobacteria

Common malignant disease includes:

  • Kaposi's sarcoma
  • high-grade B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
  • cervical carcinoma