The rate of new active tuberculosis (TB) diagnoses among people living with HIV in the UK is disproportionately high among people of black African ethnicity, investigators report in the online edition of AIDS.

Expanded access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been accompanied by big falls in incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Malawi, according to research published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society. However, rates of TB among people on ART still remained higher than those observed in the general population, underlining the importance of rapid TB diagnosis.

Reducing maternal viral load during pregnancy is the most important factor in preventing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV, results of a large study published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal confirm. Other risk factors for MTCT included insufficient food, a recent sexually transmitted infection (STI) and a history of diseases associated with immune suppression.

The close contacts of people with active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) have high rates of the disease, according to US and Canadian research published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Almost one in twenty close contacts contracted TB, with three-quarters of diagnoses made within three months of the diagnosis of the index patient.

The risk of liver toxicity in people with HIV taking antiretroviral therapy and isoniazid preventive therapy for tuberculosis is strongly associated with either hepatitis B co-infection or pre-existing liver enzyme elevations, according to international research published in the 1 May edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

A large proportion of hospitalised HIV-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa have experienced the failure of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

An intervention using health system navigators, phone support and text message reminders did not improve rates of people living with HIV initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) or completing treatment for tuberculosis (TB), investigators report in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

Community health campaigns provide an opportunity to detect previously undiagnosed cases of tuberculosis (TB), investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Research conducted in rural Uganda showed that incorporating TB screening into community health campaigns offering universal HIV testing led to the diagnosis of undetected TB cases. Overall, approximately 3000 patients need to be screened to identify one new case of TB, but among patients with HIV and chronic cough, the yield was one new TB diagnosis per 80 screens.

Starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) significantly reduces the risk of tuberculosis (TB) for patients in South Africa, investigators report in the online edition of AIDS. Overall, ART initiation was associated with a 45% reduction in TB risk, which was lower than the effectiveness observed in other research. The authors believe this difference is because of their rigorous methodology, which unlike earlier studies, took into account patients’ pre-treatment CD4 counts.

There is a high mortality rate among people living with HIV undergoing treatment for tuberculosis (TB), according to the results of a meta-analysis published in PLOS One. The mortality rate ranged between 8 and 14% but the risk of death was significantly lower for people who received antiretroviral treatment (ART) during their TB therapy.