Patients with HIV and Tuberculosis - treatment results

In a retrospective study of 700 patients with culture-positive tuberculosis (TB), relapse rates were found to be significantly higher in HIV-infected patients compared to HIV-uninfected patients following a rifamycin-based regimen.

The results appear in the first issue for June 2007 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.

As a rationale for their study, the researchers state that the optimal duration of TB therapy in HIV-infected subjects is unknown and may differ from HIV-uninfected individuals.