HIV And TB Co-infection

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection continues to be a major global health problem; a 2011 estimate indicates that 23.5 million people living with HIV resided in sub-Saharan Africa, which represents 69% of the global HIV burden. Also in 2011, 8.7 million people became ill with tuberculosis (TB) of which 1.4 million died. There were about 1.1 million new cases of HIV-positive new TB cases with 79% of them living in Africa and globally about 450,000+ editorial board members died of HIV-associated TB. Advanced immune suppression remains the most important risk factor for tuberculosis in those with HIV, but epidemiological and clinical factors have also been identified. We previously evaluated risk factors for TB in our population of adult patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and noted that poor immunologic and/or virologic response to ART and male sex were some of the risk factors for TB in ART patients. However, we do not know if such risk factors differ in pre-ART patients. Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is predominantly responsible for TB transmission in human populations. Prevalence and known risk factors for PTB among HIV-infected adults vary from one setting to another. Identification of the factors associated with PTBHIV co-infection in pre-ART HIV patients could have implications for clinical management and TB control strategies.

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Last date updated on April, 2024