1. INTRODUCTION South Africa has the highest reported incidence of tuberculosis (TB) globally at 860 cases per 100 000 per year, and the third highest absolute case load of TB after India and China 1. The reported incidence of TB in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa is 895 per 100 000/year 2. Patients on dialysis are particularly vulnerable to TB infection due to immune dysfunction 3. Despite this, there is a paucity of incidence data on TB from dialysis patients in high burden settings. RESULTS OBJECTIVE The primary aim of the study was to determine the incidence of TB in chronic kidney disease stage 5 patients on dialysis (CKD-5D) at a single centre in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa and to identify risk factors associated with TB infection. REFERENCEES 1.WHO. Global Tuberculosis Report 2014. World Health Organization, 2014. 2.Council ECA. Eastern Cape Strategic Plan review; 2011:1– 88. 3.Hu HY, Wu CY, Huang N, Chou YJ, Chang YC. Increased risk of tuberculosis in patients with end-stage renal disease : a population-based cohort study in Taiwan, a country of high incidence of end-stage renal disease. Epidemiol.Infect. 2013 ;( 145):1–9. 4.WHO. Treatment of tuberculosis: guidelines-4th ed.Geneva 2009. METHOD Thus far, 98 adult dialysis patients have been enrolled into the study. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all consenting prevalent CKD-5D patients between April 2010 and March 2014 in the Livingstone Hospital Renal Unit, Eastern Cape, South Africa. TB was defined as “definite” or “probable” according to WHO criteria 4. CONCLUSION The incidence of TB in CKD-5D patients in our unit is over 4 times that reported in the general population for the country as a whole. We speculate that high admission rates to the general medical wards (which lack adequate isolation facilities for TB patients) is an important risk factor for nosocomial acquisition in this group. This is a modifiable risk factor which requires urgent public health attention. Potential strategies for reducing the high rate of TB could include both improved TB isolation facilities as well as the provision of isoniazid prophylaxis therapy to dialysis patients. Variable ALL n(%) TB+TB- p- value Gender Male4553430.54 Female5547570.54 Employment Status Employed81270.55 Unemployed9288930.55 Smoking Status ≥10 Pack years1812190.49 < 10 pack years8288810.49 Recent Hospitalization7994750.08 Housing Brick8571880.07 Shack1529120.07 Use of biomass fuel8690.70 TB contact2535230.55 HIV status Reactive (%)12 0.95 Non reactive (%)88 0.95 Prior Immunosuppression7070.21 TB+ = history of definite or probable TB. TB - = no prior TB Demographics by history of TB (n=98) The study participants were predominantly black African (75%) and female (55%); mean age was 42.6 (SD ± 9.4). Sixty patients were on haemodialysis and 38 were on peritoneal dialysis. There were 18 TB infections in the study period, giving an incidence rate of 4592 per 100 000 person years. Recent hospitalization and poorer housing were more prevalent in those with TB, but there was no difference by HIV status. TB incidence by region in South Africa HIGH BURDEN OF TUBERCULOSIS IN SOUTH AFRICAN DIALYSIS PATIENTS: THE REPORT OF A SINGLE CENTRE IN THE EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA. Siviwe Ndamase 1, John Black 1,2, Gregory Calligaro 2, Henri Carrara 3, Robert Freercks. 1,2 1 Livingstone Hospital, Division of Nephrology, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 2 University of Cape Town, Department of Medicine, South Africa, 3 University of Cape Town, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, South Africa