Epidemological Association of Tuberculosis and HIV in Visakhapatnam District

The object of our study is to observe the epidemiological distribution and association of Tuberculosis (TB) co-infection with HIV among the Visakhapatnam zone of Andhrapradesh. It is mainly due to Tuberculosis and HIV has been closely linked and HIV infection has contributed to a significant increase in the worldwide incidence of tuberculosis. According to WHO, the proportion of TB cases co-infected with HIV was also found rising being 2-10 times greater for 1997 estimates than for 19902. By producing a progressive decline in cell-mediated immunity, HIV alters the pathogenesis of tuberculosis, greatly increasing the risk of developing disease in co-infected individuals and leading to more frequent extra pulmonary involvement and atypical radiographic manifestations. In the present analysis it was found that in new smear pulmonary TB cases; there was an increase trend in number of cases in both male and female. According to smear positive and smear negative TB cases, male are more prone to TB (71.77% smear positive and 63.83% smear negative) than female (28.22% smear positive and 36.16% smear negative). In all the TB cases registered through RNTCP 4186 TB Patients are reported to be tested for HIV before or during the treatment. Out of those 4,186 cases, 558 are HIV positive.