| Abstract: | The present study was undertaken in order to determine the incidence and distribution of opportunistic lung infections in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome related to intravenous drug use. One hundred ninety seven patients of both sexes were investigated. Based on bronchoalveolar lavage cytology, a total of 156 (79%) patients were found to harbor opportunistic lung infections by the Diff-Quik staining procedure. Seventy-nine percent of the males and 80% of the females were positive. Pneumocystis carinii was the most common of the opportunistic infections accounting for 83% of the positive cases. Cryptococcus. Candida sp., and Aspergillus sp. were also identified in a small number of patients. Cytomegalovirus was not detected in any of the cases under study. There were no sex-related differences in the distribution of the various infectious agents, males and females being equally affected. |
