Original article / research
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Prevalence of HIV in Clinically Suspected Cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
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Correspondence
Address : Dr. Rajesh Bareja, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, SRMSIMS, Bhojipura, Bareilly-243202, U.P., India. Phone : :+91-9458705236, +91-9034882188 E-mail : rajeshbareja@gmail.com |
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Context: Tuberculosis (TB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection have been inextricably bound together from the early years of the HIV epidemic. Aims and objective: A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of HIV infection in patients with tuberculosis, describing and comparing the characteristics of pulmonary TB cases with or without the presence of HIV infection. Materials and Methods: A total of 75 clinically suspected patients of TB were asked for sputum samples for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) staining and culture that were processed according to Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program guidelines. One 5 mL blood sample each was taken for HIV testing and processed according to the guidelines of National Aids Control Organisation. Results: Out of 75, nine (12%) patients were found to be HIV positive. The male female ratio among HIV positive cases was 2:1. Four out of nine HIV-positive patients and one among 66 HIV-negative had candidiasis (p <0.001). Three of the HIV-positive patients had chronic diarrhea compared to only one patient in the HIV-negative group (p <0.05). The lone patient having herpetic skin lesion was found to be HIV-positive. Among the HIV co-infected patients, there was only one patient who was both smear and culture positive, rest were negative. On the other hand, among the 66 HIV-negative TB patients, 25 (37.88%) were positive on both smear and culture. Two (3.03%) patients were positive on culture but negative on smear examination. Radiological involvement of multiple lung zones (p < 0.05) and presence of associated mediastinal lymphadenopathy were found to significant higher in HIV co-infected TB patients. Conclusion: Universal HIV testing of TB cases should be encouraged for more effective treatment, care and prevention programs. |
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