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June 2009 • Vol. 4 • Issue 4
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TB and HIV Co-Infection
The numbers are staggering - 15% of the new TB infections occur in HIV patents: 1 out of 4 TB deaths is HIV related; annual incidence and mortality due to TB globally would be falling if it were not for HIV infection and in some countries, upwards of 8 out of 10 TB patients are co-infected with HIV. Dr. Michael Sidibe (Director of UNAIDS) recently indicated that "we have to stop people living with HIV from dying of tuberculosis." The introduction of a new diagnostic test for latent TB infection, interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs), provide the promise of more rapid and accurate diagnosis of TB. However, there is very little data on the use of IGRAs in HIV-infected patients. In this issue of Close Contact, Dr. Mike Lauzardo explores what we do know and what remains unknown about this topic.
The Use of Interferon Gamma Release Assays in HIV Infected Individuals for the Diagnosis of Latent TB Infection
by Dr. Michael Lauzardo, MD, MSc
More than fifty years after the development of effective therapy, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most important infectious diseases in the world today. Globally, there are an estimated nine million new cases of TB each year and almost two million people each year die from TB, many of them infected with HIV. Although the absolute number of cases continues to increase, the rates of TB are leveling off for the first time in history in all areas of the globe except for sub-Saharan Africa where the HIV epidemic continues to fuel the firestorm of TB. In lower incidence areas such as the United States, HIV co-infection remains an important risk factor and detection of latent TB infection (LTBI) in patients with HIV infection remains an important strategy to control TB. Read more >>
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Who You Gonna Call? TB Busters!
It's 4:15 Friday afternoon before a 3-day weekend; you're the last one in the office, as all your colleagues got an early start on their holiday. The infection control nurse at your community's largest hospital calls to tell you the TB inpatient (who has been on medications for less than a week) has checked out against medical advice to visit his brother two states away. He didn't take any of his drugs with him, he is traveling by car for the 600-mile trip - fortunately the ICN has the address of the patient's brother. Read more >> |
