This section aims to publish studies looking at all aspects of the prevention, diagnosis and management of HIV and HIV-associated infections in humans, as well as related molecular genetics, pathophysiology, and epidemiology. This section also aims to publish studies on the adverse events of HAART and non-HIV-related comorbidities in the HAART era.
TB and HIV co-epidemic is a major public health problem in many parts of the world. But the prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection was diversified among countries. Exploring the reasons of the diversity of TB/HIV co-infection is important for public policy, planning and development of collaborative TB/HIV activities. We aimed to summarize the prevalence of TB and HIV co-infection worldwide, using meta-analysis based on systematic review of published articles.
We identified 47 eligible studies with a total population of 272,466. Estimates of TB/HIV co-infection prevalence ranged from 2.93% to 72.34%; the random effects pooled prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection was 23.51% (95% CI 20.91–26.11). We noted substantial heterogeneity (Cochran’s χ2 = 10945.31, p<0.0001; I2 = 99.58%, 95% CI 99.55–99.61). Prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection was 31.25%(95%CI 19.30–43.17) in African countries, 17.21%(95%CI 9.97–24.46) in Asian countries, 20.11%(95%CI 13.82–26.39) in European countries, 25.06%(95%CI 19.28–30.84) in Latin America countries and 14.84%(95%CI 10.44–19.24) in the USA. Prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection was higher in studies in which TB diagnosed by chest radiography and HIV diagnosis based on blood analyses than in those which used other diagnostic methods, and in countries with higher prevalence HIV in the general population than in countries with lower general prevalence.