The rates of tuberculosis (TB) recurrence and mortality in people with HIV in eastern Europe remain concerningly high and continue to be a clinical and public health challenge, according to a paper published in AIDS. In the first study to report on long-term follow-up of TB/HIV co-infected patients in eastern Europe, one in seven people had TB again and over half died.
Despite a consistent decrease in TB cases across Europe since 2000, with a 25% reduction in 2016-2020 alone, two major challenges remain: a high prevalence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and high rates of TB/HIV co-infection, especially in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Co-infections in the region are often associated with injecting drug use and hepatitis C (HCV), which jeopardise health care and outcomes.
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