TUBERCULOSIS AND HIV COINFECTION

Abstract

<h3>Objectives</h3> To observe the number of cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection reported in individuals with tuberculosis. <h3>Study Design</h3> A retrospective ecological study was carried out at the Brazilian Informatics Department of the Unified Health System from 2010 to 2019 to verify the prevalence of tuberculosis and HIV coinfection in the same person. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. <h3>Results</h3> Of 880,045 cases of tuberculosis reported in Brazil during these 10 years, 11.04% of the individuals with tuberculosis had HIV and 10.13% had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, a total of 21.43% of individuals with tuberculosis did not undergo an HIV test, which could increase that percentage. Many cases referred to AIDS confirmation were left blank or the notification was ignored (14.32%). These data are extremely important, because HIV and tuberculosis coinfection is the main cause of death in HIV-positive individuals. Dentists should be aware of oral manifestations that may occur in those patients. <h3>Conclusions</h3> The Brazilian notification must be carried out more carefully, because many variables are incompletely filled, with relevant data being omitted and not showing the real epidemiologic situation of coinfection with tuberculosis and HIV in Brazil.