Seroprevalence of Brucellosis in HIV-Infected Patients in Sanandaj, Iran

Background: Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leads to cellular immune deficiency and theoretically patients infected with HIV are susceptible to brucellosis. Objectives: The current study aimed to determine brucellosis rate in the patients infected with HIV. Patients and Methods: We included 89 HIV+ patients from Sanandaj Consultation Center for Behavioral Diseases. Patients signed informed written consent before filling out the questionnaire. After serum collection, standard Wright tube, Coombs-Wright and 2MEWright tests were performed. Moreover, blood samples obtained from 502 individuals, who were not infected with HIV, were served as the control. Results: The mean age of participants in the experimental and control groups were 33.31 ± 7.47 and 34.38 ± 11.29 years, respectively. In the Wright tube test for the HIV+ group, 71 individuals (79.8%) did not have an antibody against Brucella spp., while 18 patients (20.2%) were positive for the antibody. According to the results of Wright tube test for the control group, 63 (12.5%) participants were positive for anti- Brucella antibody. The frequency of antibody against Brucella spp. in the HIV+ group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P = 0.042). Conclusions: HIV positive individuals in areas endemic for brucellosis must be investigated for the disease.