Study of the rates of co-infection of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis in Urbanized regions within Sub-Saharan Africa

Sistla Sumanth

Introduction:
Airborne communication of mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for the evolution of primary tuberculosis (TB) in immunostable and immunocomprimsed patients (Aaron, et al. 2004). In 1993, the center for disease control classification identified that TB was the defining illness in HIV infected patients, as it is typically the first symptom bearing illness to afflict the patient (Aaron, et al. 2004). TB cases have dramatically increased in the global setting in recent, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, illustrating the sensitivity of HIV infected patients to this co-infection.
TB results from a pathogenic infection caused primarily by M. tuberculosis, and seldom Mycobacterium bovis; the infiltration of the bacterium into the respiratory tract leads to the infection of the macrophages and cytotoxic cells debilitating intracellular growth (Aaron, et al. 2004). The risk of HIV infected patients to succumb due to the co-infection of tuberculosis and HIV is twice that of patients only infected with HIV (Aaron, et al. 2004).
A 1997 estimate suggests that atleast 10.7million people were co-infected with HIV and M. tuberculosis; more than 30% of TB cases in Africa are also infected with HIV (Aaron, et al. 2004) showing the susceptibility of co-infection in immunocompromised patients. Those living in Sub-Saharan Africa are in greater risk due to the prevalence of malnutrition and social dispossession as a product of the socio-economic environments. It is important to note that although both the diseases are complementary, the incidence of TB doesn’t depend on the route of HIV transmission as previously thought (A.D. 1990): although latent infection may spread based on increased mobility of the infected