Prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus in children with Tuberculosis

Objectives: To determine prevalence of HIV co-infection in children with TB visiting Tb center Children Hospital, PIMS. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted in Children Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. from March 2022 to February 2024 after approval from ethical review board. 170 participants were selected from TB center Children hospital PIMs. Written and informed consent was obtained from parents/attendants of all patients. HIV serology of all TB patients coming to TB center children hospital PIMs is advised in routine and HIV serology is available free of cost in our hospital. Demographic data of patients, information regarding type of TB, bacteriological evidence of TB and HIV serology results were entered in a standardized Performa created for our study. Results: Out of the total 170 TB cases included in our study 5 patients were HIV positive. This represents 2.9% of our study population. Out of these 5 patients, 3 were male and 2 were female. Age of HIV positive patients was widely distributed with the youngest patient being 3 months only and the oldest 11yrs. 4 (80%) HIV positive patients had clinically diagnosed and 1 patient had MTB positive in gastric aspirates. All HIV positive cases had pulmonary TB. Conclusion: Prevalence of HIV infection in children with Tb was much higher as compared to the prevalence of HIV in general population.