A high rate of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection among suspected Tuberculosis cases in Western Kenya

Abstract

Background: Kenya is a high HIV/AIDS prevalence country and the epidemic has been declared a national disaster, and is at top of the government’s agenda.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of HIV infection among suspected tuberculosis (TB) cases seeking healthcare at chest and paediatric clinics in Western Kenya.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was done between 2007 and 2009. A total of 695 suspected TB cases (388 males and 312 females) were screened for HIV infection using Trinity Biotech Uni-Gold TM test and positives confirmed with the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic data of the participants.

Results: In total, 272 (39.1%) of the suspects were HIV infected 50.7% females and 48.3% males. Females were significantly affected than males [OR = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.51-0.94; P = 0.02]. The majority (39.3%) of the HIV cases were in the 25-34 age-group followed by the 35-44 (24.6%) and 15-24 (15.8%) age-groups respectively. Only 16.9% of HIV-infected cases were on antiretroviral therapy. Conclusions: The prevalence of HIV infection among suspected TB cases was 39.1%, which was relatively lower than 48%, 45% and 44% prevalence rates reported by Division of Leprosy Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (DLTLD) in the annual reports of 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively. However, it was much higher the current national average HIV prevalence of 7.2%.

Keywords: HIV prevalence; healthcare seekers; chest and paediatric clinics; suspected TB cases