Predictors of oesophageal candidiasis in persons with or without HIV infection

Dear Sir, We read with great interest the article by Mushia nd colleagues recently published in African Health Sciences1. The authors present data on predictors of endoscopically diagnosed oesophageal candidiasis (OC). Much as this is an interesting and one of the largest studies of its kind in the region, it is confusing in one respect. A major distinction between predictors of OC in HIV-infected patients and risk factors for development of OC in HIV-uninfected individuals should have been drawn in the abstract. Additionally, HIV which is a major risk factor for oesophageal candidiasis is missing in the conclusions, and its odds ratio is not only inconsistent with that provided in Table 2 of the results section, but also out of the 95% confidence interval