Clinical study of HIV disease in the lower area of northern Thailand in 1994
Swasdisevi, A.
Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand 77(8): 440-443
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-2208 PMID: 7876766 Document Number: 438231
A psychiatrist/drug abuse specialist reviewed the medical records of 77 HIV-positive patients aged 15-61 at Budhachinaraj Hospital in Phitsanulok, Northern Thailand, during February-July 1994 to determine the HIV disease situation in Phitsanulok and the nearby provinces. (The first HIV-positive IV drug user in Phitsanulok was identified in June 1988.) The sex ratio between male and female was 4.1:1 (i.e., 62 males and 15 females). 55 of the 77 patients were 20-39 years old. All but one HIV-positive patients were Thai. Leading occupations were farmer/gardener (27) and worker (27). 62 had completed primary school. Most of the HIV-positive patients were from Phitsanulok (46), followed by those from Sukothai (10). 52 patients had full-blown AIDS, the leading opportunistic infections being cryptococcal meningitis (23), Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (13), and pulmonary tuberculosis (10). Seven of nine cases of advanced HIV disease had CD4 cell counts under 50 cells/cubic mm and two had under 150 cells/cu. mm. 15 HIV cases died of opportunistic infections.