HIV-positive patients with low CD4 counts (≤100 cells/mm3) and those who initiated ART with RR TB treatment both were approximately 3 times more likely to experience a severe AE with crude sHR: 2.76 (95 % CI: 1.30–5.84) and sHR: 3.07 (95 % CI: 1.46–6.46), respectively (Table 3). Here, CD4 is linked to tuberculosis.