Low incidence of the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome among HIV-infected patients starting antiretroviral therapy in Gabon: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

There is a paucity of data on the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) in the Central African region. We followed ART-naive HIV-infected patients initiating antiretroviral therapy in an HIV clinic in Gabon, for 6 months. Among 101 patients, IRIS was diagnosed in five. All IRIS cases were mucocutaneous manifestations. There were no cases of tuberculosis (TB) IRIS, but active TB (n = 20) was associated with developing other forms of IRIS (p = 0.02). Six patients died. The incidence of IRIS is low in Gabon, with mild, mucocutaneous manifestations.