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Life sciences · Journal article
BMC Infectious Diseases · October 17, 2026
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The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic remains a major global health challenge. Iran, a country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, is facing a growing burden of HIV/AIDS. Therefore, monitoring the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and clinical assessment of these patients is key to understanding its scale and providing strategies for cost-effective prevention, control, and treatment. Demographic and clinical information of HIV-positive patients in 2023 and 2024 was retrospectively retrieved from medical records while maintaining patient confidentiality. Demographic characteristics, route of transmission, co-infections, presence or absence of opportunistic infections, disease stage, CD4 + cell count, antiretroviral therapy, and outcome of infection were collected. A total of 112 HIV-infected patients were included in the study. Of the patients, 72 (64%) were male and 40 (36%) were female. The mean age of these patients was 39 ± 11 years. A large proportion of patients were infected through heterosexual contact (73/112, 65%). Among the patients, the most common co-infection was hepatitis C virus (20/112, 18%). At the time of the first visit, 48 patients (48/112, 43%) showed asymptomatic HIV infection (stage 1) and 64 patients with clinical symptoms (64/112, 57%) were at stage 2 (3/64), 3 (18/64), or 4 (43/64) of HIV infection. Among the 112 patients, 52 (46%) had a CD4 + T-cell count below 200 cells/µL, consistent with severe immunosuppression. Cerebral toxoplasmosis (39 cases, 35%) was the most common opportunistic infection. Among the 64 patients with clinical symptoms, 45 had CD4 + cell counts < 200/µL. Multivariable logistic regression showed that CD4 + T-cell count < 200 cells/µL was independently associated with cerebral toxoplasmosis (aOR 11.25, 95% CI 4.41–28.64, P < 0.001). Only 2 patients (2/112, 2%) died, one due to ovarian cancer and the other due to immunological and hematological disorders. In this regional HIV referral cohort in southern Iran, sexual contact was the most frequently documented transmission route, and nearly half of the patients had CD4 + T-cell counts below 200 cells/µL at their first visit. Cerebral toxoplasmosis was the most frequently documented opportunistic condition and was strongly associated with CD4 + T-cell counts below 200 cells/µL. These findings support earlier HIV diagnosis, timely linkage to care, and targeted prevention strategies. However, the single-center design and substantial exclusion due to incomplete records limit the generalizability of the findings to the wider Iranian HIV population.