Causes of hospital admission and mortality in HIV/AIDS patients in the infectious disease department of the Regional Hospital of Bata, Equatorial Guinea

Introduction: Despite the introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment (ART), a large number of patients continue to enter the advanced stage of HIV/AIDS infection. Methods: To characterize the causes of admission and death of HIV/AIDS patients in the infectious service of the Bata Regional Hospital, a retrospective descriptive study was carried out. The universe consisted of 196 HIV positive patients over 16 years of age hospitalized in the unit. of infectious in the first half of 2020. The source of information was medical records. Data were collected on sex, age, presumptive TB symptom, main diagnosis at admission, CD4 value, patients with or without ART, Hemoglobin value, main and secondary diagnoses at discharge or death, and clinical stages according to WHO. Results: Of 196 patients admitted, 31,7 % were men, 88 % were under Antiretroviral Treatment with a median of 635 (IQR 97.5-1927), the median CD4 count was 105 cells/ml (IQR 45-296), the The predominant diagnosis upon admission was pneumonia. Tuberculosis was diagnosed in 6 % and cryptococcosis in only 0,5 %. Only 152 of the 494 diagnoses were etiological (31 %). Mortality was 10,2 % with 20 patients dying, the main cause being pneumonia, without being able to define etiology due to lack of diagnostic means. Conclusion: The majority of hospitalized patients were women and pneumonia was the main diagnosis of hospitalization and mortality.