In a bivariate analysis of the characteristics of HIV positivity (including both those diagnosed before the TB episode and those diagnosed during the TB episode) among the 988 patients screened, more men than women were HIV positive (18 (3.0%) vs. 6 (1.5%)), more adults than young adults (9 (4.3%) vs. and 15 (2.0%)) and more patients reporting illegal drug consumption were HIV positive than those reporting never having used illegal drugs (crude OR: 4.24, 95%CI 1.85–9.73). We had insufficient power to conduct a multivariate analysis of predictors of HIV positive status.