Human immunodeficiency virus infection in tuberculosis patients

Article Abstract:

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks and weakens the immune system, thereby increasing host susceptibility to opportunistic infection. The later stages of HIV infection are often accompanied by pneumonia. Recent reports have indicated that tuberculosis may be related to HIV infection. HIV-positive intravenous drug users in New York city were reported to have an increased incidence of tuberculosis. In order to examine the relationship between tuberculosis and HIV, blood samples from patients diagnosed with tuberculosis were screened for the presence HIV antibodies. The study group was selected from 128 diagnosed cases of tuberculosis reported at the San Francisco Department of Public Health Tuberculosis Clinic between July 1986 and May 1988. Out of the 128 patients diagnosed with tuberculosis, 60 agreed to participate in the study. The mean time between tuberculosis diagnosis and HIV testing was three months. Twenty-eight percent of the tuberculosis patients participating in the study had antibodies to HIV. Ten percent of the 68 patients diagnosed with tuberculosis who did not participate in the study were diagnosed as having AIDS. Therefore, out of all the diagnosed cases of tuberculosis, 19 percent had antibodies to HIV. Tuberculosis was the first opportunistic infection to occur in 88 percent of those diagnosed as HIV-positive. The were no clinical or pathological differences in the tuberculosis diagnosed in the HIV-positive and the HIV-negative patients. Risk factors associated with HIV included homosexual behavior and intravenous drug use. It is concluded that tuberculosis is an important early opportunistic infection occurring in HIV patients. It is recommended that patients with tuberculosis be tested for HIV, especially those living in areas were HIV infection is prevalent. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Complications and side effects, Risk factors, Demographic aspects, HIV infection, HIV infections, AIDS (Disease)

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An outbreak of tuberculosis with accelerated progression among persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus: an analysis using restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms

Article Abstract:

Twelve of 33 HIV-infected individuals living in a residence for HIV-patients developed tuberculosis (TB) between Dec, 1990 and Apr, 1991. The first case was diagnosed in an individual who moved to the facility in Nov, 1990. Bacterial isolates from all subsequent cases indicated that they acquired the infection from this person. None of the 28 staff members developed TB, but six reacted positively to a tuberculin skin test. Normally, 30% of healthy individuals exposed to people with TB have a positive tuberculin test, indicating that they have a latent infection, but not active TB. And once exposed, it can take years for active TB to develop. In this case, 37% of HIV-infected individuals developed active TB within four months of exposure to other residents with TB. This indicates that TB can spread rapidly and aggressively through a population of HIV-infected people.

Diseases, HIV patients

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