Microbiological investigation for tuberculosis among HIV-infected children in Soweto, South Africa.

SETTING: A paediatric human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) clinic in an academic hospital in Soweto, South Africa. OBJECTIVES: 1) To describe and compare the clinical, immunological and virological characteristics of HIV-infected children co-treated for tuberculosis (TB), and 2) to compare those investigated microbiologically with those who were not, with a description of the results of the microbiological TB investigation. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of TB-HIV-infected children aged 8 years and those between 3 and 8 years were more likely to have culture-confirmed TB than those aged 500 cells/mm(3) (aOR 3.95, 95%CI 1.23-12.72). CONCLUSION: Our study in HIV-infected children showed a high TB case rate, a low rate of definite TB and a high rate of drug-resistant TB based on World Health Organization case definitions. Increased uptake of available TB tests and availability of new diagnostic tests remains a priority in high TB-HIV burden settings.