Central nervous system infections in patients with AIDS

Central Nervous System (CNS) is very common site of the opportunistic infections in patients with AIDS. Patients, who died because of AIDS have described pathology of CNS in 80% in autopsy series. Toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) is the most common infection in the course of AIDS, and it touches 25-50% of the HIV-infected people. The treatment of TE is very difficult, but relapses are very often and primary and secondary prophylaxis of TE is necessary. Fungal infections (particularly cryptococcal meningitis) are very unpopular in immunocompetent patients; in HIV-infected people Cryptococcus neoformans is the cause of the 30% of encephalitis. Viral and bacterial encephalitis, they are not very common in AIDS patients.