Incidence of Active Tuberculosis Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Positive Patients and Evaluation of Their Responses to Usual Anti-Tuberculosis Medications in Shiraz, South West of Iran

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) makes infected cases prone to opportunistic infections like Tuberculosis (TB) due to impaired immunity of the body, especially Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) ones which are a major concern. With HIV outbreak starting late in the 20th century, the international health community is observing a huge rise in the incidence of this complex disease. Herein, we estimated the incidence of TB among HIV-positive individuals and their responses to anti-tuberculosis medications in Shiraz, Southwest of Iran. 840 HIV-positive patients were included in this cross-sectional study. During the first examination CD4+ count and PPD test was obtained, patients were checked for other symptoms too. Patients, if diagnosed with TB, received proper medication. If therapy failed, second-line therapy was prescribed for them. Type of resistance was studied and recorded. Patients continued their routine anti-viral therapy during the study. Of 840 participants, 29 were diagnosed with Active TB (3.4%), 76% of them were diagnosed with PCR and culture and other with acid fast. Males were the majority of TB positives (82.8%). Most patients suffering from TB had CD4+ count lower than 200 (55.1%); 17.2% of the cases were MDR-TB. Low CD4+ count makes the patient vulnerable to TB. It is necessary to maintain patient’s immunity in order to treat and prevent tuberculosis; so, anti-viral therapies still play important roles in preventing TB in HIV-positive patients.