HIV and Tuberculosis in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 1997–2002

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, reporting rates for tuberculosis (TB) are rising in an emerging HIV epidemic. To describe the HIV epidemic among TB patients and quantify its impact on rates of reported TB, we performed a repeated cross-sectional survey from 1997 through 2002 in a randomly selected sample of inner city TB patients.

In more recent years, rising HIV infection rates in TB patients have been documented in Ho Chi Minh City, the major urban area with the highest HIV prevalence in the country. Since 1997, Ho Chi Minh City has also reported increasing TB rates, particularly for young adults.

Our study objective was to describe the course of the HIV prevalence among TB patients in Ho Chi Minh City during 1997–2002. By combining our data with the NTP reporting data, we also quantifi ed the effect of HIV on the TB reporting rates in this city.