G. Khai Lin Huang1, Daniel P. O’Brien1,2
- Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Barwon Health, Geelong
Last reviewed: November 2019
Introduction
There are number of lesser-known opportunistic infections presenting in people with HIV infection that may be acquired in localised geographical regions of the world (Table 1). Disease caused by these infections may occur at different stages of HIV disease, ranging from early stages of HIV infection to more advanced stages of immunodeficiency. They may be recently acquired following travel or reactivated following long-term latency in immigrants or travellers. It is important for Australian clinicians to be aware of these conditions when treating patients from different regions of the world, or when providing pre-travel health advice for patients with HIV infection. Travel is increasingly common amongst HIV-infected people (1-4).
Table 1: Opportunistic infections caused by organisms from different geographic regions of the world.
| Disease | Causative organism | Typical geographic region | |
| Endemic fungal infections | Talaromycosis | Talaromyces marneffei | Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, north-east India and southern parts of China |
| Histoplasmosis | Histoplasma capsulatum | Central eastern USA, and Latin America | |
| Coccidioidomycosis | Coccidioides immitis | Geographically restricted arid and semi-arid areas in the Americas | |
| Endemic parasitic infections | Leishmaniasis | Leishmania spp. (numerous) | South and Central America, Africa, Asia and southern Europe |
| Chagas disease | Trypanosoma cruzi | Rural areas of Mexico, Central America and South America
|
|
| Malaria | Plasmodium
falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malaria and Plasmodium knowlesi
|
Widespread in tropical and subtropical regions globally | |
| Other opportunistic infections | Buruli ulcer | Mycobacterium ulcerans | West and central Africa, Asia, South America, the western Pacific and Australasia |