Introduction: As chronic HIV infection is prone to co-infections more than any other infectious condition, many severely immune-depressed patients require advanced diagnostic investigations and complex treatment.
Case report: The case of a 30-year-old severely immune-depressed patient with AIDS, who developed neurological impairment and was diagnosed with encephalitis is presented. Multiple diagnostic approaches had to be used in order to identify the etiologic agents responsible for the clinical, immunological and biological evolution. Despite using advanced laboratory investigations and complex treatment, the patient developed multiple organ dysfunction syndromes that led to a fatal outcome.
Conclusions: Establishing etiologic relations and treatment priorities in patients with severe immunodeficiency and co-infections can prove difficult, underlining the need of rapid syndromic testing.