Publication:

Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus infection among the diagnosed tuberculosis patients in Karachi, Pakistan

Background People living with HIV are from 26-31 times more likely to develop TB than persons without HIV. TB is the most common presenting illness among people living with HIV, including among those taking antiretroviral treatment and it is the major cause of HIV-related death. HIV/AIDS has driven TB epidemics in a number of countries including Pakistan where Tuberculosis is endemic and is a major public health challenge. People living with HIV/AIDS continue to be a group at high risk for tuberculosis (TB). National surveillance is important to indicate the magnitude and burden of both diseases. To control the problem, the WHO recommends the establishment of coordinated strategy for both diseases. In this study we aimed to determine the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among diagnosed Tuberculosis (TB) patients in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods A cross sectional study was conducted, in the year 2015 among the diagnosed TB patients to detect TB/HIV co-infection in the two selected sentinel sites of Karachi, Pakistan. Trained investigators used a standardized multiple-choice and open-ended questionnaire to collect the data regarding demographic profile and collected samples for HIV tests of identified cases. Written informed consent was obtained and questionnaire was completed by respondents selected through simple random sampling. 1257 TB patients underwent the rapid assay for HIV serological testing and subsequent ELISA test was done for confirmation of the HIV. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.0 and Microsoft excel.

Results Among the 1257 patients tested 680 (54%) were men and 577 (46%) women and largest number of patients 56% belonged to the age group 19-40 years. In our study prevalence of HIV among identified Tuberculosis patients was 1.4%.

Conclusions The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among Tuberculosis patients is 1.4%. Future research needs to be directed toward this sensitive issue and social support programs with treatment services should be ensured for HIV positive TB patients to reduce the disparities in provision of health services for this vulnerable stratum of our society.