Prevalence of bacterial pneumonia among HIV-Seropositive patients in East Africa: Review

Abstract Bacterial pneumonia is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among the HIV-seropositive patients still in the era of combination Antiretroviral Therapy. The actual burden of bacterial pneumonia in HIV-seropositive patients is not well documented in East Africa. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of pneumonia infection in HIV-seropositive patients in the region. Different electronic databases from PubMed, Google scholars, Scopus, Science direct and Web of Science were searched for articles published from 1994 to 2020 that assessed the prevalence of bacterial pneumonia in HIV-seropositive patients in East Africa. Data on the prevalence of bacterial pneumonia in HIV-seropositive patients in East Africa counties are limited. Therefore, only 13 articles about the prevalence of bacterial pneumonia in HIV-seropositive patients in East Africa were reviewed. Tanzania exhibited the highest level of bacterial pneumonia in HIV-seropositive patients at 59.76%, while Rwanda had the lowest level at 5.6%. The different risk factors identified, such as intravenous drugs, cigarette smoke and unvaccinated were associated with the development of bacterial pneumonia in HIV-seropositive patients. Bacterial pneumonia is a major public health problem and it is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV-seropositive patients in East Africa. This review will provide information to the scientific community, policymakers and program officers to design pneumonia preventive interventions in HIV-seropositive patients. The author recommended that further studies need to be conducted on the magnitude of bacterial pneumonia in HIV-seropositive patients in the region.