Diagnostic tests for tuberculosis (TB) were more readily available at secondary- and tertiary-care facilities than in primary-care units in a survey of more than 600 facilities in 9 sub-Saharan African countries.

Treating tuberculosis with corticosteroids before antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV-positive South Africans lowered levels of several inflammatory markers, while severe vitamin D deficiency was associated with higher inflammatory marker levels regardless of whether TB immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) developed.

A low-cost assay that can be used in the clinic detected a proportion of advanced TB cases at an HIV center in South Africa. The researchers suggest using the test in areas with high TB prevalence might identify some people who would benefit from rapid anti-TB therapy.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) was strongly associated with a lower incidence of tuberculosis (TB)—regardless of CD4 count when ART began—in an 11-study meta-analysis of TB in HIV-positive adults in developing countries.

Nevirapine concentrations were substantially lower in Zambian children under 3 years old who were also taking rifampicin-based therapy for tuberculosis. Adjusted nevirapine doses will have to be studied.

People who started antiretroviral therapy (ART) immediately in the randomized HPTN 052 trial had a significantly slower time to an AIDS disease and to tuberculosis than did people who delayed treatment [1]. The group that started ART immediately--at a CD4 count above 350--also had a lower rate of all new diseases assessed in this 2-year analysis.

HIV-positive South Africans with a CD4 count below 100 cells/µL and hemoglobin below 10 g/dL had a 3 to 5 times higher risk of tuberculosis, according to results of a 422-person study. The findings have implications for the “three I’s”—intensified case finding, isoniazid preventive therapy, and infection control.

Integrating care of tuberculosis and HIV infection, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), improved TB treatment outcomes and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in a 712-person comparison in an urban Ugandan HIV clinic.

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) proved a frequent complication in tuberculosis patients starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in north India. Meningitis was a common component of TB-IRIS and was often fatal.

Two Xpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis rifabutin resistance assays in South Africans starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) would be highly cost-effective, according to a cost-benefit modeling analysis using a hypothetical South African population.