A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON SYMPTOMS AND MICROBIOLOGICAL STATUS OF TUBERCULOSIS IN HIV POSITIVE PERSONS

Abstract

Background: In HIV positive and HIV negative individual clinical symptoms of Tuberculosis (TB) varied widely. Chances of Smear negative tuberculosis are high in HIV positive cases and it is the leading cause of death of HIV patients.

Objective: To study the relationship between bacteriological status of TB cases and TB symptoms in HIV patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted during 2011 in a representative sample of 100 HIV in- fected persons visiting a tertiary care hospital located in western India. Laboratory investigation of Tuberculosis was done by AFB staining and culture in Ogawa medium. Data collected in structured questionnaire and laboratory pro- file of the patients were entered into Microsoft excel and analyzed using Epi-info.

Results: Twenty three percent prevalence of TB is observed in HIV patients. Eighty one percent of the total TB cases were smear negative cases. Significant relationship was observed between the TB symptoms and Smear posi- tive TB cases (p<0.05) but no significant relationship could be established between TB symptoms and smear nega- tive cases (p>0.05). Prevalence of Mycobacterium avium complex was higher than M. tuberculosis.

Conclusion: In HIV patients, the utility of direct microscopy of AFB stained smear is limited because most of these patients were smear negative and are asymptomatic. So, direct microscopy in combination with Culture is recom- mended for higher case finding of TB in HIV patients.