Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common opportunistic diseases and leading cause of death among Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients. There has been a drastic rise of TB infection associated with the pandemic occurrence of HIV/AIDS infection in South Africa and other resource-limited countries world-wide. South Africa faces an immense burden on health care systems posed by diagnostic and therapeutic challenges resulting from the concomitant HIV and TB epidemics. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the factors associated with TB and HIV co-infection for patients attending clinical care at rural public health facilities in Albert Luthuli municipality of South Africa. Methods: A cohort of HIV/AIDS patients was retrospectively followed from inception in 2010 to 2017 until TB was diagnosed or until the end of the study. Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) model was used to analyse survival data on HIV/AIDS patients. Factors associated to TB were modelled using log-logistic AFT model and further analysis of the significant factors was done using Kaplan-Meier, log-rank and hazard ratios. Results: From 357 HIV/AIDS patients, 65 patients (18.2%) had TB. Out of the 65 HIV/AIDS patients with TB, 15 (23.1%) of them died. Thus, of the 41 HIV/AIDS patients who died during the follow-up period, 15 of them (36.6%) had TB. Log-logistic AFT model determined factors associated with TB at significance level of 0.05 as: hospital, WHO stage, treatment (regimen 1), ART adherence, follow-up CD4 count, baseline haemoglobin, follow-up white blood cell count, baseline viral load, baseline sodium and follow-up alanine transaminase. Discussion: Although antiretroviral therapy is effective in reducing the risk of developing TB, the overall burden of TB in HIV/AIDS community may not substantially diminish.Conclusion: TB/HIV co-infection is one of the serious public health problems in Albert Luthuli municipality. Collaborative TB/HIV activities in form of early diagnosis of both TB and HIV need a holistic approach in order to reduce drug resistance, drug toxicity, co-morbidities and mortalities which are associated with TB/HIV co-infection.

Background: Current research indicates that chronic kidney disease is a global problem which poses a major health threat to people of poor countries with HIV/AIDS and on antiretroviral treatment. In this study, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease and the factors associated with it were investigated among the HIV/AIDS patients in a rural community of South Africa. Methods: A cohort of HIV+ terminal ill patients was retrospectively followed from 2010 to 2017 until chronic kidney disease was diagnosed or until the end of the observation period at two hospitals (Carolina and Embhuleni). Patient information was obtained from the routine hospitals’ records, and the data were analysed using Cox regression and survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier hazard functions and ratios, and log-rank tests) methods. Results: Out of a random sample of 320 HIV/AIDS patients, 51 patients (15.9%) had chronic kidney disease. The factors associated with chronic kidney disease were: Gender (p-value=0.0356), Age (p-value=0.00077), Baseline creatinine (p-value=0.00253), Follow-up alanine transaminase (p-value=0.0152), ART treatments (p-value<0.00193) and Hospital (p-value=0.00258). Discussion: Whilst antiretroviral treatment is associated with some improvement in virology and immunology in HIV-infected patients, research is still needed for the assessment of the impact of ART and other risk factors on renal function in marginalised communities in Africa. Conclusion: The research findings on HIV+ patients in Albert Luthuli Municipality concurred with several previous research findings on risk factors to CKD. The expected action to alleviate the health threat due to CKD in South Africa is to educate the nation on prevention, early detection and on the management of the disease.

Background: Current research indicates that chronic kidney disease is a global problem which poses a major health threat to people of poor countries with HIV/AIDS and on antiretroviral treatment. In this study, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease and the factors associated with it were investigated among the HIV/AIDS patients in a rural community of South Africa. Methods: A cohort of HIV+ terminal ill patients was retrospectively followed from 2010 to 2017 until chronic kidney disease was diagnosed or until the end of the observation period at two hospitals (Carolina and Embhuleni). Patient information was obtained from the routine hospitals’ records, and the data were analysed using Cox regression and survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier hazard functions and ratios, and log-rank tests) methods. Results: Out of a random sample of 320 HIV/AIDS patients, 51 patients (15.9%) had chronic kidney disease. The factors associated with chronic kidney disease were: Gender (p-value=0.0356), Age (p-value=0.00077), Baseline creatinine (p-value=0.00253), Follow-up alanine transaminase (p-value=0.0152), ART treatments (p-value<0.00193) and Hospital (p-value=0.00258). Discussion: Whilst antiretroviral treatment is associated with some improvement in virology and immunology in HIV-infected patients, research is still needed for the assessment of the impact of ART and other risk factors on renal function in marginalised communities in Africa. Conclusion: The research findings on HIV+ patients in Albert Luthuli Municipality concurred with several previous research findings on risk factors to CKD. The expected action to alleviate the health threat due to CKD in South Africa is to educate the nation on prevention, early detection and on the management of the disease.

Background: Current research indicates that chronic kidney disease is a global problem which poses a major health threat to people of poor countries who have HIV/AIDS and are on antiretroviral treatment. In this study, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease and the factors associated with it were investigated among the HIV/AIDS patients in a rural community of South Africa. Methods: A cohort of HIV+ terminal ill patients was retrospectively followed from 2010 to 2017 until chronic kidney disease was diagnosed or until the end of the observation period at two hospitals (Carolina and Embhuleni). Patient information was obtained from the routine hospitals’ records, and the data were analysed using logistic regression and survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier hazard functions and ratios, and log-rank tests) methods. Results: Out of a random sample of 357 HIV/AIDS patients, 53 patients (14.85%) had chronic kidney disease. The factors associated with chronic kidney disease were: Gender (p-value<0.0024); Age (p-value<0.0420); Baseline creatinine (p-value<0.0116); Baseline alanine transaminase (p-value<0.0111); Treatment regimen 1 (p-value<0.0001); ART adherence (poor, fair, good) (p-value<0.0005); Hospital (p-value<0.0001); and Lost to follow-up (ye, no) (p-value<0.0069). Discussion: Whilst antiretroviral treatment is associated with some improvement in virology and immunology in HIV-infected patients, research is still needed for the assessment of the impact of ART and other risk factors on renal function in marginalised communities in Africa. Conclusion: The research findings on HIV+ patients in Albert Luthuli Municipality concurred with several previous research findings on risk factors to CKD. The expected action to alleviate the health threat due to CKD in South Africa is to educate the nation on prevention, early detection and on the management of the disease. The study established diverse baseline statistics against which future research may be based.