Detection of HIV infection in pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Abstract

Well documented 112 pulmonary tuberculosis patients were studied for the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositivity by using two antibody screening tests along with western blot test. Nineteen of the pulmonary tuberculosis patients were HIV seropositive, 12 were acid-fast bacillus smear positive; 12 patients were tuberculin skin test positive and 15 patients were culture positive. As the incidence of HIV infection is increasing in India, it is observed that patients co-infected with HIV and TB are also on the rise. Recognition of the dual infection and taking adequate steps to deal with this epidemic are needed.

PIP: Infection with HIV depresses cell-mediated immunity by selectively depleting the CD4 T cells. That process increases the HIV-infected individual's susceptibility to other infections such as Myco tuberculosis. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 4 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV and Myco tuberculosis. 35 patients newly diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) at the Government Thiruvotteswarar Hospital of Thoracic Medicine in Madras and 77 at the Institute of Thoracic Medicine were tested for infection with HIV using particle agglutination, ELISA, and Western blot. 19 were HIV positive, 12 were acid-fast bacillus smear positive, 12 were tuberculin skin test positive, and 15 were culture positive. As the incidence of HIV infection increases in India, so does the number of patients coinfected with HIV and TB. Health personnel need to recognize such dual infection and take the proper steps to manage the epidemic.