Prevalence and Associated Factors of HIV and CMV Co-Infection in Tianjin, China

The prevalence and associated factors of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) coinfection in patients starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Tianjin, China are under-studied. We measured CMV DNA in plasma specimens of 1347 HIV-infected patients. T-cell dynamics were measured by flow cytometry. A total of 1347 patients participated in this study. 1288 (95.6%) were male. The median age was 36. Both CMV positive and CMV negative groups were similar apart from the higher proportion of homosexual/bisexual HIV transmission in CMV negative group and the older age in CMV positive group. According to the duration of first-line ART, we did not observe a significant difference between CMV positive and CMV negative groups. CD4 counts and CD4 nadir counts are independent risk factors for the prevalence of CMV in HIV infected patients. We found a high prevalence of CMV (12.8%) in Tianjin HIV-infected patients starting ART. CMV serological status should be taken into account when measuring the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy on immune restoration.