Prevalence and Correlates of TB and HIV Co-infection Among People Living with HIV/AIDs at the DLHM Hospital, Calabar

TB is the most common opportunity infection and cause of death among people living with HIV. With dwindling prevalence figures from several national studies and dwindling funding, CD4 monitoring makes management easy, accessible and affordable. Objectives to determine prevalence and correlates of TB and HIV Co-infection among People Living with HIV/AIDs at the DLHM Hospital, Calabar. The study is retrospective descriptive study of 274 TB-HIV co-infected clients form October, 2009 to June, 2011 was carried out by examining their hospital records. Research instruments were a designed checklist used to collect socio demographic data, information on HIV diagnosis and ARV use, CD4 count and TB-HIV co-infection. Data was analyzed using the excel software. The result shows age group 21-30 years and 31-40 years constitute the largest (39.0% and 31.0%) of co-infected clients respectively. The percentage of infected females was 160/274 = 58.6% and the rest were male. Only 28 (10.2%) had their CD4 count above 350 cells counts/ul. ConclusiCo-infections of TB and HIV are common. CD4 count is a reliable tool in monitoring progression. Every HIV positive client should be considered having the potential of contracting TB, and this underscores the need for proper screening and monitoring.