HIV-TB Co-Infection among Clients Attending an Integrated Counselling & Testing Centre at Agra: Comparison with Studies in other Regions of India

Settings: This prospective cross-sectional hospital based study was carried out in order to determine the prevalence of HIV-TB co-infection among patients attending an ICTC of this Institute at Agra.Methods: The socio-demographic characteristics and clinical profile of 5391 clients attending the ICTC were analyzed at the time of testing in the context of symptoms. All clients were screened for the presence of the signs and symptoms of TB disease. TB patients were referred to DOTS centre and HIV-positive patients were referred to ART centre, S.N.Medical College, Agra for further care and management.Results: In this study, HIV prevalence among clients was found to be 24% and HIV-TB co-infection was 12%. Major symptoms among these clients, at the time of testing, were weight loss, fever, cough and chronic diarrhea. Both HIV-positivity and HIV-TB co-infection were found to be higher among males, in the age group of 21-35 years, married, illiterate and working as daily laborers.Conclusion: Our study emphasizes the need for routine screening of clients for HIV and TB patients which, in turn, would guide the clinicians in deciding the appropriate treatment regimens in the management of HIV- TB co-infected patients