Opportunistic infections in AIDS patients are a harbinger of death. In this study presence of enteric protozoa (Cryptosporidium parvum, Cyclospora cayetanensis, Enterocytozoon bienuesi) as causative agents of diarrhea in HIV/AIDS patients were detected from their fecal samples. The conventional staining methods used for identification which had been employed earlier were compared with PCR results and different attributes (sensitivity, cost, hands on time, ease of use and batch testing) while performing investigations in the different set ups viz. rural, urban government, urban private and hospital cum research/referral centers were prioritized. Testing the samples by PCR gave 100% sensitivity and specificity. Since PCR is costly, a combination of at least two methods be employed in resource limited settings to avoid missing any parasite. This is the first study from India wherein a PCR was employed to confirm the presence of all the three above mentioned protozoa and application of Analytical Hierarchy Process was done.

Background: HIV infection is major risk factor for progression to active tuberculosis. The typical symptoms, upper lobe disease and sputum positive for AFB are seen in patients with CD4 T cell count above 200 cells/cu µl. Patients with impaired immunity usually have atypical clinical, radiographic features, extra pulmonary disease and disseminated disease. So, diagnosis requires thorough work up. Methodology: The impact of CD4 count on various manifestations of 50 HIV seropositive patients with tuberculosis was studied. Results: Majority of patients were in the age group of 30-40 yrs. 58% were males and 42% females. The most common form was pulmonary TB (76%) followed by Pleural effusion (26%). X-ray findings showed bilateral infiltrations in 38% cases; Mid and lower zone infiltration in 26% cases and upper zone in 14%. Majority were Sputum -ve (68%), only 32% were sputum +ve. Mean CD4 count being 146.6±88; Mean CD4 in sputum positive TB was 254.8±77 and sputum negative TB was 97.2±33.8 and extra pulmonary TB was 142.3±55.3. All patients with upper zone lesions in chest x -ray had CD4 > 200 cells/µl and 84.6% of patients with mid and lower zone lesions had CD4 count 50-200. Conclusion: CD4 counts correlated well with clinical profile of TB, which showed that when CD4 counts were < 200 cells/µl , sputum negative pulmonary TB and disseminated pulmonary TB were more common. Chest x-ray were atypical in the form of lower zone involvement and more of infiltrative lesion..