Yarlagadda, PadmajaYenigalla, Bindu MadhavSimgamsetty, SusmithaMyneni, Ramesh Babu2015-11-272015-11-272015-08Yarlagadda Padmaja, Yenigalla Bindu Madhav, Simgamsetty Susmitha, Myneni Ramesh Babu. Etiology of opportunistic respiratory tract infections in patients suffering with HIV/AIDS from a tertiary care hospital, Chinakakani, Andhra Pradesh. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences. 2015 Aug: 3(8): 1974-1978.2320-60712320-6012http://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/166392Background: HIV infection / AIDS is a global pandemic with cases reported from every part of the globe. India currently harbours 20.89 Lakh of HIV infected patients. Opportunistic infections (OI’s) and cancers have been recognized as common complications of HIV infection. The present study has been taken up with an aim to know the incidence of various opportunistic infections in HIV positive patients attending our hospital for either medical / surgical treatment. Methods: One hundred patients who were known to be infected with HIV having pulmonary symptoms, who were clinically diagnosed to have lower respiratory tract infections are included in the study. Early morning sputum samples were obtained from the patients and are sent to the Department of Microbiology for isolation and identification of infectious agents. All the samples were processed as per standard guidelines for Bacterial, Mycobacterial and Fungal cultures. Results: All the sputum samples were subjected to bacteriological, Mycobacterial and fungal cultures. Most of the samples grew either monomicorbial or polymicrobial bacterial cultures associated with either Mycobacterial or fungal pathogens. Out of 100 samples, 32 were positive for single pathogenic organisms and 68 were positive for polymicrobial organisms. The bacterial flora isolated in the present study includes Staphylococcus aureus (32.38%) followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae (17.14%), Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CONS) (15.23%), Streptococcus spp (12.38%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (8.57%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.7%), Acinetobater spp (3.8%) and Escherichia coli (3.8%). Antibiotic sensitivity for all the bacterial isolates were performed where Linezolid was the most sensitive drug in case of Gram Positive Organisms and Imipenem in case of Gram Negative Organisms. Conclusion: Education, counseling and behavior modification are important issues which are the need of the hour and concerted effort from every organization and individual is requested to save us from the brink of this inevitable disastrous pandemic called AIDS, which will be undoubtedly the scourge of this century.enHIVOpportunistic infectionsTuberculosisCandidaArticle