Histoplasmosis as a presentation of human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Opportunistic fungal infections account for a significant amount of morbidity associated with HIV disease. In Northern Ireland approximately 10% of our HIV positive patients have acquired their disease in foreign climes, particularly subSaharan Africa and the United States of America. This, coupled with increasing travel in general abroad, increases the likelihood ofthem acquiring opportunistic infections not often encountered in the United Kingdom. We report here a case of localised oral histoplasmosis without evidence of disseminated disease in a patient who had just been diagnosed as having HIV infection. Reactivation of latent histoplasma infection occurred as a result ofprevious exposure in South Africa following gradual depletion of his immune function by HIV infection.