A significant proportion of HIV‐infected patients admitted to hospital have immunosuppression as a result of failure of highly active antiretroviral therapy

Objectives To investigate the immunological and virological features of patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) admitted to a tertiary centre. Methods A retrospective study was carried out on HIV‐infected patients on HAART admitted to the Regional Infectious Disease Unit in Edinburgh between June 2002 and July 2003. Results A total of 125 patients who had been on HAART for at least 6 months were admitted during the study period. The frequencies of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) coinfection were 52% (78 of 150 patients) and 48% (72 of 150 patients), respectively (P>0.05 for comparison of frequencies of hepatitis B and C). Of patients who had been on HAART for atleast 6 months, 50% (63 of 125 patients) were immuno‐suppressed and had significantly higher bed‐days 6 (3–12) compared with those with CD4>200 cells/μL (P