Prevalence of pulmonary histoplasmosis infection among Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Tuberculosis patients attending infectious diseases hospital, Kano, northwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Histoplasmosis is a disease with a global distribution and hyperendemic zones. The severity of the sickness is determined by the number of conidia inhaled and the host’s cellular immune system’s performance. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of pulmonary histoplasmosis infection among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / Tuberculosis (TB) patients attending an infectious diseases hospital in Kano, Nigeria. The study is a cross-sectional hospital study, in which 203 intervieweradministered questionnaires were distributed, sputum samples were collected, and fungal culture was carried out. Identification and antifungal susceptibility for the test isolates were done using microscopic examination and agar disc diffusion. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. The prevalence of histoplasmosis was 5.4%. Of the 67 (33.0%) samples collected from TB patients, only 5 (2.5%) were positive for Histoplasma capsulatum, and of the 75 (37.0%) samples collected from HIV patients, only 4 (2.0%) were positive. The findings highlight the need for developing better diagnostic tools that will promptly make the diagnosis of the infection, especially in developing countries. Histoplasmosis can present with symptoms similar to other respiratory diseases, which may lead to delays in treatment, and increase the financial burden of managing the infection on the patients.