Objective: To estimate the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity among patients with active tuberculosis residing in the city of Londrina, in the state of Paraná, Brazil and treated at the Pulmonology Clinic of the 17th Regional Health Facility of the State of Paraná, and to compare those coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus to those with active tuberculosis only in terms of the clinical form of tuberculosis, sputum smear microscopy, chest X-ray and tuberculosis treatment regimen. Methods: A transversal study involving 188 active tuberculosis patients was conducted. Tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus infection were diagnosed based on criteria established by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. In addition to the data obtained through individual tuberculosis investigation files, clinical and epidemiological information were collected by means of questionnaires, which were completed by all participating patients. Results: The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity among patients with tuberculosis was 14.9%. The rate of positive sputum microscopy results was higher in the tuberculosis-only group (p = 0.0275), and the ratio for patients treatment with alternative scheme was significantly higher in the co-infected group (p = 0.042). In 32.1% of the coinfected patients, the serological diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection was made simultaneously to or following that of the tuberculosis. Conclusion: The results underscore the importance of routinely testing for human immunodeficiency virus antibodies in patients diagnosed with tuberculosis.

Keywords: Tuberculosis/complications; Tuberculosis/diagnosis; Soropositivity; HIV/immunology; HIV infections/complications; HIV infections/epidemiology; HIV infections/ drug therapy; Rifampin/therapeutic use; Disease progression