[Active tuberculosis in a cohort of HIV-infected inmates in a prison in Mexico City: clinical and epidemiological characteristics].

OBJECTIVE

To determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of prison inmates with active tuberculosis in HIV-positive prison populations.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

We conducted a cohort study in HIV-infected subjects in a prison in Mexico City, with the aim of determining clinical and epidemiological characteristics of cases with active TB.

RESULTS

We detected 172 HIV infected inmates and TB in 28 of them (16.3%) - 21 (12.2) with pulmonary TB--with an incidence rate of 7.7/100 persons/year for active TB and 4.7/100 persons/year for pulmonary TB. No drug resistance was found. Two clusters (4 and 2 subjects) were observed after RFLP-typing of 18 isolates, with a transmission rate of 11% by molecular and clinical analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of active TB was found to be a thousand times greater than in the general population. Evidence of transmission inside the prison was also found.