Clinical and microbiological characteristics of community-acquired pneumonia in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: a retrospective analysis of 79 HIV/AIDS patients

Introduction HIV infections are prevalent; however, the clinical characteristics of these patients are atypical. Objectives In the present study, we analysed 79 patients who were newly diagnosed with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) at Ruijin Hospital between January 1998 and August 2011 to improve awareness of the physicians' diagnoses and to elucidate the risk factors for community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) and the progression to severe pneumonia or respiratory failure in AIDS patients. Methods The patients were divided into a CAP group (A) and a non‐CAP group (B). Furthermore, group A was divided into a severe pneumonia group (A1) and a non‐severe pneumonia group (A2). Results and Conclusion The serum albumin (25.60 ± 5.31 vs 34.00 ± 6.90; P