Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Tuberculosis Coinfection at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital

ABSTRACT Background; Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death, and the principal cause from a single infectious agent (above HIV/AIDS); millions of people continue to fall sick with the disease to each year, HIV and TB alone or as coinfections, are a significant public health problem in the world with the biggest contribution to morbidity and mortality felt in sub-Saharan Africa. The immunosuppressive state caused by the decline in immunity as a result of HIV enables TB transmission, infection, reactivation and spread to extra-pulmonary sites making tuberculosis a major opportunistic infection in HIV patients. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of TB/HIV infection, EPTB and any adverse effects it might have on treatment adherence and overall outcome Method; A review of records retrospective study design was employed that made use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. A total of 384 TB cases took part in the study, 12% of whom were also HIV infected. The prevalence of EPTB was 9.90% with no adverse effects on treatment adherence and overall outcome. Result; Records reviewed showed that physician-reported cases of EPTB documented among 384 TB patients. 38 cases of EPTB were reported while the remaining 346 were categorized into PTB. The prevalence of EPTB was thus 9.90% and that of PTB 90.10% with no adverse effects on treatment adherence and overall outcome. Conclusion; The prevalence of TB/HIV coinfection was high at 12% though not as high as estimates from previous studies elsewhere. This notwithstanding, urgent interventions are needed to reverse this. The prevalence of EPTB was low at 9.9%, values far lower than estimates of previous studies. Treatment adherence was not adversely affected by TB/HIV coinfection and for this reason no unfavourable outcomes were reported. 2 case-fatality rates were reported in the patients with a diagnosis of TBM