OBJECTIVETo understand the general feature of patients with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infectious (TB/HIV) in Guangxi, from 2007 to 2012.

METHODSInformation regarding individuals that the contributory causes of death were due to MTB infection among HIV as the underlying cause of death from the Vital Registration System, together with bacterium smear or culture results, onset of TB, time that TB was diagnosed and entered an Internet base TB surveillance system was collected and checked. Data including information on time of death, age, occupation, the underlying cause of death among TB patients, bacterium distribution, average age of death, interval from onset to death, percentage of TB/HIV co-infection patients among all the patients etc, were all analysed.

RESULTS203 patients died from HIV associated with TB from the Guangxi Vital Registration System were identified between 2007 and 2012. The average percentage of TB/HIV co-infection cases accounted for 8.24% (ranging from 3.94% in 2007 to 13.27% in 2012) among all the deaths of HIV infection while it accounted for 9.90% (ranging from 2.56% to in 2007 to 26.88% in 2012) among patients with MTB infection in the same period. The average percentage of deaths from TB/HIV co-infection in 2010 and 2012 accounted for 10.66% (ranging from 8.83% to 13.27%)and 22.17% (ranging from 20.60% to 26.88%)among patients died of HIV and TB infection respectively. The male-female ratio was 4.21 for 1, with the average age of death as 44.65 (44.65 ± 15.52) years;median time from TB symptoms onset to diagnosis as 37 (mean 94.31, standard deviation 206.07) days, record as (94.31 ± 206.07); median time from diagnosis to death as 46 (165.22 ± 282.19) days, 54.68% TB/HIV patients died within two months of being diagnosed with TB and the median time from TB symptoms onset to death as 131 (257.68 ± 340.79) days. 16.26% of the TB/HIV cases were bacterium confirmed TB cases.

CONCLUSIONCompare to those TB patients without HIV, less bacterium evidence was found in TB/HIV patients. High burden caused by HIV disease was seen if they were co-infected with TB. An increasing proportion of deaths was noticed among patients co-infected with HIV and TB in the last three years, suggesting that the coverage of antiretroviral therapy be scaled up together with the strengthening of the capability on early TB case-finding among people live with HIV.