Meningitis in HIV positive and negative patients: A comparative demographic profile.

Background: Meningitis is a serious infection in HIV patients claiming millions of lives across the world. Comparative studies of meningitis in HIV positive and negative patients are scarce. Methods: We performed a comparative study of the demographic features of meningitis in HIV positive [116] and HIV negative [218] patients at a tertiary hospital over a period of four years. Results: In HIV seropositive patients the percentage of women was lesser [29.6% vs. 42.5%], the proportion of students was lesser [4.8% vs.14%], but the proportion of professionals was higher [17.5% vs. 10.8%] when compared to HIV seronegative group. Even though Tuberculosis [82.6% vs. 68.5%] was the predominant organism causing meningitis in both the groups, Cryptococcosis [5.2% vs. 1%] was more common in the seropositive individuals. Conclusions: The study highlights the differences in the demographic profile of meningitis in a large cohort of HIV positive and HIV negative patients.