The prevalence of HIV among tuberculosis patients in Benadir, Somalia. Retrospective multi-center study

Introduction: In 2020, 8% of TB patients were con-infected with the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) and 50% in parts of southern Africa. Due to a lack of available data, we will determine the prevalence of HIV infection among TB patients in the Benadir region.

Methods: This is a record study of the HIV prevalence among TB cases in all Benadir TB centers from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. All those whose HIV status had not been identified and all drug-resistant cases were excluded from this study. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.

Results: 46 out of 3061 (1.5%) patients were HIV/TB co-infected. 63% and 37% were males and females, respectively. 78.2% of HIV-TB co-infected cases were 20-49 years old, which was statistically significant (P = 0.00048). 75.6% of TB/HIV co-infected patients were bacteriologically confirmed cases.

Conclusion: The prevalence of HIV among TB patients in Benadir is very low. This may imply that the prevalence of HIV in the general population is also very low.