title: First Outcome of MDR-TB among Co-Infected HIV/TB Patients from South-West Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of mortality among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients and the majority of them occur in developing countries. The aims of the present study were to determine the frequency of HIV/TB co-infection and other probable associated factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  This 10 year retrospective study was conducted on 824 HIV patients in the south-west of Iran. HIV infection was diagnosed by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed by Western blot. TB diagnosis was based on consistency of the clinical manifestations, chest X-ray, and microscopic examination. Drug susceptibility testing was done by the proportional method on Löwenstein-Jensen media.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 824 HIV patients, 59 (7.2%) were identified as TB co-infected and the majority (86.4%) of them were male. Of the overall TB infected patients, 6 cases (10.2%) showed multidrug-resistant with the mean CD4+ lymphocyte count of 163±166 cells/mm(3). The main clinical forms of TB were pulmonary (73%). There was a significant (p<0.05) correlation between TB infection and CD4+ lymphocyte counts ≤200 cells/mm(3), gender, prison history, addiction history, and highly active anti-retroviral therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We reported novel information on frequency of HIV/TB co-infection and multidrug resistant-TB outcome among co-infected patients that could facilitate better management of such infections on a global scale.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology & Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. ; Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Motamedifar
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology & Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hadi Sedigh
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ebrahim-Saraie
authors.affiliation: Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Reza Hassan
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Abadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology & Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahboube Nakhzari
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Moghadam
keywords: Human Immunodeficiency Virus; Iran; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant