Coinfection by tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus in the homeless population: reality of a state in Northeast Brazil

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which mainly affects the lungs and has a long latency period, whereas the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) affects mainly CD4+ T lymphocytes. These two conditions are often found acting on the same organism. The high prevalence of HIV and TB co-infection makes the relevance of this study possible and corroborates the construction of a need for care for homeless people. Due to their difficulties regarding access to government resources, the scope of public policies and adequate care, they are often far from the attention of the health system. The objective of this study was to collect and analyze information about the co-infection of TB and HIV in homeless people (PSR) in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. This is a qualitative-quantitative and ecological observational study, based on the analysis of data available on the website of the Notification Disease System, from 2015 to 2019. It was found, regarding PSR in Pernambuco, that the total number of cases of TB and HIV co-infection was 138 (26.85% of PSR with tuberculosis in PE) between 2015 and 2020, with 82 (59.42%) male and 56 (40.58%) female. women. Thus, it is evident that the state of Pernambuco showed a percentage increase in cases of co-infection between the years presented, which was not followed by the rest of Brazil. In addition, given that males represent about 80% of PSR, the number of women with HIV and TB co-infection is, proportionally, very expressive. This population is highly susceptible to the presence of HIV and TB co-infection, especially in males, and part of these numbers can be attributed to a marginalization in access to health services. It is considered that TB and HIV co-infection is more frequent in PSR in Pernambuco to the detriment of the general population. Co-infection by diseases is prevalent in men, but females have shown a great rise in this co-infection in the state.