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Persistently high HIV seroprevalence among adult tuberculosis patients at a tertiary care centre in Delhi
Reprint requests: Dr S.K. Sharma, Chief, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Professor & Head Department of Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110 029, India e-mail: sksharma@aiims.ac.in
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Abstract
Background & objectives:
This study was designed to estimate HIV seroprevalence among tuberculosis patients presenting to tertiary care centre in Delhi.
Methods:
Cross-sectional prevalence study among all patients presenting to the inpatient and outpatient departments of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and receiving anti-tuberculosis treatment from May 2003 to April 2005.
Results:
Of the 448 patients who presented to the TB clinic during the study period, 23 (5.1%) were previously tested HIV-positive. An additional 21 patients (4.6%) refused testing, and 30 (6.7%) were lost to follow up. Of the remaining 374 patients who consented to testing, 31 (8.3%) were found to be HIV-positive. Risk factors for HIV seropositivity included high-risk sexual behaviours (48% in HIV-TB co-infected vs. 6% in TB infected patients, P<0.001) and history of blood transfusion (23% vs. 5%; P=0.002).
Interpretation & conclusion:
Previous studies from the same hospital published in 2000 and 2003 reported HIV seroprevalence among TB patients to be 0.4 and 9.4 per cent respectively. The current study documents a persistently high seropositivity among TB patients. These results emphasize the acute need for improved detection and treatment for HIV among TB patients in northern India.
