Prevalence and risk factors for co-infection of Tuberculosis in a Mexican HIV+ population

Introduction: The situation of tuberculosis (TB) is being modified by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is increasing the occurrence of new cases and the generation of drug resistant strains, affecting not only the people infected with HIV, but also their close contacts and the general population, conforming a serious public health concern. However, the magnitudes of the factors associated to this co-infection differ considerably in relation to the population groups and geographical areas. Methods: In order to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for the co-infection of tuberculosis (TB) in a population with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV+) in the southeast of Mexico, we made the analysis of clinical and epidemiological variables and the diagnosis of tuberculosis by isolation of mycobacteria from respiratory samples. Results: From the 147 HIV+ individuals analyzed, 12 were culture positive; this shows a prevalence of 8% for the co infection. The only variable found with statistical significance for the co-infection was the number of CD4-T < 200 cells/mm 3 , OR 13 (95%, CI 2-106 vs 12-109). Conclusion : To our knowledge this is the first report of the factors associated to the TB co-morbidity in a population with HIV from the southeast of Mexico. The low number of CD4 T-cells was the only variable associated with the TB co-infection and the rest of the variables provide scenarios that require specific and particular interventions for this population group .