The epidemiology of CMV retinitis in Africa

AIM: To analyze the prevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in African AIDS patients. METHOD: A Medline survey was carried out to identify reports on the ocular manifestations of HIV infection in African patients. Relevant information on CMV retinitis was identified and analyzed. RESULTS: The reported prevalence of CMV retinitis in African AIDS patients varies from 0 to 8.5%. CONCLUSION: The low prevalence of CMV retinitis in Africa compared to Europe and the United States suggests that most African patients either die from other diseases before they enter the stage of severe immune depression associated with CMV disease or their survival at this stage is very short. This also explains why bilateral and hence blinding CMV retinitis is rare among African AIDS patients.