Effects of HIV-1 and HIV-1/2 Coinfection on Patients With Asymptomatic Urinary Tract Infection Attending HIV Clinics in Benin City Nigeria

Conflicting reports exist on the effect of HIV types on disease progression and relation to opportunistic infections. This study aims to determine the effect of HIV types on the prevalence and aetiologic agents of urinary tract infection (UTI). A total of 485 subjects consisting of 335 HIV patients and 150 non-HIV subjects without symptoms of UTI were recruited for this study. The HIV patients comprised of 251 on HAART and 84 HAART-naive patients. Blood and urine specimens were collected from all subjects. The blood specimens were used to determine HIV type and CD4 count while significant microbial isolates were recovered from the urine specimens and identified using standard techniques. Only HIV patients on HAART had significantly higher prevalence of asymptomatic UTI compared with non-HIV subjects (p=0.0234). However, comparing the prevalence of asymptomatic UTI of the various HIV types with that of non-HIV subjects, the results showed only HIV-1 to be significantly associated with asymptomatic UTI (p<0.05). CD4 count <200 cells/µL was not associated with UTI. Generally, Staphylococcus aureus was the most common aetiologic agent of UTI. Among HIV patients (both HAART-naive and those on HAART) with HIV-1, Staphylococcus aureus was the most common cause of UTI, while among those with HIV-1/2 dual infection, Escherichia coli predominated. HIV types have an effect on the prevalence and aetiologic agents of asymptomatic UTI.