Sir, 

The recent report on the spectrum of AIDS-defining opportunistic infections (OIs) in HIV-infected patients 
is very interesting.1 Balkhair et al. concluded that “a wide spectrum of OIs are seen in hospitalised HIV-
infected patients in Oman.”1 Indeed, OIs are common in HIV and can be seen elsewhere around the world. 
The concern with the present cohort study is the diagnostic approach. Certainly, to identify the clinical 
spectrum, good, systematic and highly accurate tests must be implemented. Some OIs require special tests 
for detection. Focusing on the present report, an interesting point is the low prevalence of intestinal OIs. This 
might be due to these types of OIs having been overlooked. In our experience, several intestinal parasites 
including OIs are common and must be screened for in HIV-infected patients.2–3

*Beuy Joob1 and Viroj Wiwanitkit2
1Department of Sanitation, Medical Academic Center, Bangkok, Thailand; 2Department of Tropical 
Medicine, Hainan Medical University, China 
*Corresponding Author e-mail: beuyjoob@hotmail.com

References
1. Balkhair AA, Al-Muharrmi ZK, Ganguly S, Al-Jabri AA. Spectrum of AIDS defining opportunistic infections in a 

series of 77 hospitalised HIV-infected Omani patients. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 2012; 12:442–8.

2. Wiwanitkit V. Intestinal parasite infestation in HIV infected patients. Curr HIV Res 2006; 4:87–96.

3. Wiwanitkit V. Intestinal parasitic infections in Thai HIV-infected patients with different immunity status. BMC 
Gastroenterol 2001; 1:3. 

Sultan Qaboos University Med J, May 2013, Vol. 13, Iss. 2, pp. 329, Epub. 9th May 13
Submitted 2nd Jan 13
Accepted 10th Mar 13

رد: أنواع العدوى االنتهازية احملددة ملرض العوز املناعي الفريوسي 
املكتسب )اإليدز( يف جمموعة من 77 مريضا عمانيا مرقدا مصابا باإليدز

Re: Spectrum of AIDS Defining Opportunistic 
Infections in a Series of 77 Hospitalised 

HIV-infected Omani Patients

letter to editor

Letter to Editor | 329