MORTALITY AMONG HIV/AIDS PATIENTS COINFECTED WITH MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS IN SOUTHERN THAILAND

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mortality rate among HIV/AIDS patients coinfected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in southern Thailand. A prospective, hospital-based cohort study was conducted among 52,459 HIV/AIDS patients registered at hospitals in 14 provinces of southern Thailand between January 1990 and April 2010. Twenty-seven point nine percent of the subjects were coinfected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Coinfection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis was not significantly associated with an increased mortality among subjects (HR 1.01; 95%CI 0.96-1.05). Subjects with pulmonary tuberculosis infection were 19% more likely to have a longer life (HR 0.81, 95%CI 0.73-0.91) and subjects with extrapulmonary tuberculosis were 31% more likely to have a longer life (HR 0.69; 95%CI 0.57-0.83). Early treatment of tuberculosis in HIV/AIDS patients can decrease mortality rates in southern Thailand.