OUTCOME OF TUBERCULOSIS IN HIV INFECTED PATIENTS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CD4 COUNT IN AN ART CENTRE, WEST BENGAL

Abstract

Background: Opportunistic Infections in HIV are major determinants of mortality in HIV patients. Tuberculosis is a leading cause of mortality. Tuberculosis is a public health challenge specially in developing countries like India. The incidence of TB HIVco-infection is gradually increasing. Methods: This was institution based, retrospective study. Study was conducted at ART Centre, North Bengal Medical College & Hospital, Sushruta Nagar, Darjeeling, West Bengal from January 2015 to January 2020 including 105 HIV-TB co-infected patients. Data was collected and template was generated in MS excel sheet and analysis was done on SPSS software. Results: 105, HIV-TB co-infected patients were registered with majority being male (n=79), mean age for male and female patients were 36.78 years and 35.73 years respectively.. The number of patients diagnosed with Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) and Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) were almost equal. Majority of patients (34.3%) had CD4 counts <200 whereas (33.3%) had CD4 counts between 200-349. Favourable outcome in terms of cured patients were 82.85% with a statistically signicant pre-treatment and post-treatment improvement in body weight (p value<0.0001) and CD4 count (p value<0.002. Conclusions: There is a strong association between incidence of TB and HIV infection. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to reduce mortality and morbidity in people living with HIV. Strict adherence to treatment and dedicated counseling for drug compliance is the need of the hour.