Background: It has been few years since the launching of provider-initiated HIV counselling and testing (PICT) for all tuberculosis (TB) suspected patients and patients presenting with signs and symptoms of TB. However, little is known about the prevalence of HIV in new smear positive confirmed TB cases in Addis Ababa.
Objective: To determine the proportion of HIV among newly diagnosed smear positive TB cases, who were screened between February 2007 and July 2010 in Addis Ababa.
Methods: A total of 418 pulmonary TB patients and 188 HIV positive non-TB cases were recruited from different health centres in Addis Ababa. All TB patients were tested for HIV.
Results: Of the total 418 new smear positive TB patients tested for HIV, 97 (23.2%) were HIV positive. The occurrence of HIV among TB patients was significantly higher in females, 50/182 (27.7%) compared to males, 47/236 (19.7%) (P < 0.05). The mean CD4 lymphocyte count among HIV positive active TB cases was significantly lower (P < 0.05) (210 +/- 23.9 cells/microL) compared to the counts among non-TB HIV positive cases (407.01 +/- 31.3 cells/microL). The proportion of HIV was significantly higher in the age group 31-40 (46.3%) and > 41 (42.2%) year (p < 0.001) compared to younger, 18-20 (3.75%) and 21-30 (17.8%) years of age groups.
Conclusion: The occurrence of HIV in smear positive TB cases is high, with a higher proportion seen among females compared to males.