High Clinical Burden of spp. in Adult Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency in Ghana.

There is a paucity of information on the prevalence, risk factors, and clinical correlates of people living with HIV (PLWH) who are co-infected with spp. in the post-combined antiretroviral therapy era in Ghana. To provide such data, in this observational study, stool samples of 640 HIV-positive and 83 HIV-negative individuals in Ghana were screened for spp. Additionally, sociodemographic parameters, clinical symptoms, medication intake, and immunological parameters were assessed. The prevalence of spp. was 11.8% (n = 73) in HIV-positive and 1.2% (n = 1) in HIV-negative participants ( < 0.001). Within the group of HIV-positive participants, the prevalence reached 26.0% in patients with CD4+ T cell counts below 200 cells/µL and 46.2% in the subgroup with CD4+ T cell counts below 50 cells/µL. The frequencies of the clinical manifestation of weight loss and gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly higher in patients with spp. compared to those without co-infection (45.8% vs. 21.4%, < 0.001 and 22.2% vs. 12.2%, = 0.031, respectively). In the modern post-cART era, the acquisition of spp. among PLWH in Ghana is driven largely by the degree of immunosuppression. Access to cART and screening for spp. as part of routine care might help control and reduce the burden of the infection.