Listeriosis in patients with HIV infection: clinical manifestations and response to therapy.

Although listeriosis is an uncommon infection in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, the frequency of listeriosis in New York City has increased because of the increase in the number of HIV-infected patients. The medical records of 30 patients admitted to three medical centers in New York City from 1981 to 1988 with infections due to Listeria monocytogenes were reviewed. Six patients had AIDS, one was seropositive and asymptomatic, and four had risk factors for HIV infection. While the annual number of cases of listeriosis in patients without risk factors for HIV infection was constant, 9 of the 11 patients with AIDS or with risk factors for HIV infection presented with listeriosis between 1985 and 1988, the last half of the survey period. These patients were male homosexuals or intravenous drug abusers, and all but one were black or Hispanic. Manifestations of listeriosis in patients with AIDS or with risk factors for HIV infection included bacteremia without apparent source in seven, meningitis in three, and endocarditis in one, syndromes that were similar to those in patients without risk factors for HIV infection. Ten of 11 patients were treated with penicillin or ampicillin, and 7 were also given an aminoglycoside. All patients responded well to therapy and no relapses were observed. Physicians should include antibiotics effective against L. monocytogenes when treating AIDS patients with meningitis of unknown origin and consider the diagnosis of listeriosis in patients with sepsis of unknown origin.