Prevalence of HIV among newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients in Erbil Governorate, Iraq

Abstract

Objectives: This study was accomplished with a purpose to determine the socio-demographic profile and the prevalence of HIV among TB patients. Methods: This prospective study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology at the Chest and Respiratory Disease Specialized Centre in Erbil City (In collaboration with the Specialist physician)   through a period from January 2017 to December 2019. New TB patients were interviewed on a predesigned questionnaire. Collected samples were   processed in a special laboratory in TB center. The samples were subjected to microscopy with Ziehl–Neelsen staining and inoculated on solid medium; the third sputum sample was tested directly by GeneXpert test. HIV testing was done using screening test and if the screening result was positive, the diagnosis was confirmed by Western Blot. Results: A total of 397 approved new   tuberculosis patients underwent HIV testing. Among them, forty one cases 41 (10.3%) were found to be positive on ELISA screening and subsequently they were all confirmed by the Western Blot test. The highest prevalence of HIV positivity  according to gender, age range  and  occupation,  were as follows :  male (29 ; 70.7%) , 30-42 years ( 21 ; 51.2%) , laborers ( 13; 31.7%)  respectively  . The male to female ration is 2.7 statistically, the differences of distribution of the HIV positivity concerning the above‑mentioned demography were as follows:  gender: significant (P ≤ 0.05), age range: no significant, occupation: no significant. The highest prevalence of HIV positivity  was among  pulmonary TB ( 25 ; 61% ) .Rifampicin resistant prevalence was higher among HIV positive in comparison to HIV negative TB case ( 23 ; 56.1% ) (134 ; 37.4%) respectively . Statistically, the differences of distribution of the HIV positivity in relation to both TB pattern & rifampicin mono drug resistant were significant (P ≤ 0.05).  Conclusions: The prevalence of HIV infection in TB patients in current study was (10.3%). If HIV testing done by all TB patients then routine reporting of HIV status for all TB patients would provide even better information on which to base future planning.