Opportunistic Infections

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With a weakened immune system, people with HIV/AIDS can suffer from opportunistic infections (OIs). These are health problems that usually don't make a healthy person sick. There also are OIs that only affect women or affect women more than men. For example, certain female health problems, like yeast infections, are common to many women. For women with HIV, these problems are harder to treat and can be more serious. The good news is that there are ways to prevent and treat many of these infections.

Below are different OIs:

• CMV (cytomegalovirus)
• Crypto (cryptosporidiosis)
• Cryptococcal Meningitis
• HCV (hepatitis C virus)
• Histoplasmosis
• MAC (mycobacterium avium complex)
• PCP (pneumocystis carinii pneumonia)
• TB (tuberculosis)
• Thrush (candidiasis)
• Toxo (toxoplasmosis)

Below are the OIs that are common in women:

• Genital Ulcers
• HPV (human papillomavirus) and cervical cancer
• Menstrual Problems
• PID (pelvic inflammatory disease)
• UTI (urinary tract infections)
• Vaginal Yeast Infections (candidiasis)

There are other problems that HIV causes:

• ADC (AIDS dementia complex)
• HIV Wasting Syndrome

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