Patients with TB and HIV should receive prompt coordinated treatment for both conditions

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading killer of people with HIV, and providing therapy for both illnesses simultaneously saves lives – according to new guidelines on the treatment of drug-susceptible TB developed jointly by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Treatment of TB in the presence of HIV infection is one of several special situations addressed in the new guidelines, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. People with HIV or diabetes, who are taking immune-suppressing medications, or who smoke or abuse drugs, are at higher risk for developing TB disease once infected. Patients often are diagnosed with HIV and TB at the same time. In 2003, when the previous TB guidelines were developed, patients with HIV usually did not start their anti-retroviral therapy (ART) until after TB treatment was completed, unless the immunosuppression from HIV-infection progressed. Recommendations for timing...