This Month's HIV/AIDS Facts

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Question: What is tuberculosis? What does HIV have to do with tuberculosis?

Basic Answer: Tuberculosis (TB) usually affects the lungs. TB can, however, affect other parts of the body. Not everyone who is infected with TB germs develops TB disease. However, people who have both HIV and TB infection are more likely to develop TB disease than people who only have TB infection. When people with TB disease cough, speak or sneeze, others who share the same air may be at risk for TB infection. There are medications that can prevent TB infection from progressing to TB disease and that cure TB disease, if taken as directed.

Detailed Answer: Tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused by bacteria, usually occurs in the lungs; however, it can also occur in other parts of the body. General signs and symptoms of TB include fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of weight, fever and night sweats. Pulmonary TB (tuberculosis in the lungs) also causes chest pain and coughing. People with pulmonary TB may cough up sputum and may sometimes cough up blood.

For many years, the rate of TB disease in the United States decreased steadily. By the mid-1980s, however, the rate began to climb again in some parts of the country. Since 1993, the national rate has decreased, although in some areas, the rate is still increasing. The rate of TB for people with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) in the United States is 40 times the rate for people who do not have HIV. Worldwide, TB rates are increasing because of HIV.

Not everyone who is infected with TB germs develops TB disease. In the United States, most people who are infected never have any symptoms of TB disease. To keep themselves from getting TB disease, people who have TB infection take medication for at least six months. People who have TB disease, however, need to take several medications for at least six months to cure the disease. Some types of TB are resistant to multiple drugs (called multi-drug resistant TB, or MDR-TB). This usually occurs because people do not take their medications properly, allowing the bacteria that causes TB to change. Despite this resistance, 90 percent of TB cases can be cured with the proper medication.

TB germs are spread through the air. When people with TB disease cough, speak or sneeze, others who share the same air may be at risk for TB infection.

Because HIV weakens the immune system, people who have both HIV and TB infection are more likely to develop TB disease than people who have only TB infection. Given the link between HIV and TB, public health experts agree that good health care for people with HIV includes screening for TB.

SOURCES:

• New Mexico AIDS InfoNet. "Tuberculosis." Fact Sheet No. 515. January 2002.
• HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service. Glossary of HIV/AIDS-Related Terms. 4th ed. Spring 2002.
• DeVita, V., Jr., et al., eds. AIDS: Etiology, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention, 4th ed. 1997.
• American Public Health Association. Tuberculosis and HIV Disease. Special Initiative on AIDS. November 1992.

For information on tuberculosis (TB), contact the CDC Voice and Fax Information System (888/232-3228), the CDC National Prevention Information Network (800/458-5231), or the CDC Division of Tuberculosis Elimination Web site at www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/default.htm.

For current statistics, contact the CDC National AIDS Hotline (800/342-AIDS), Spanish (800/344-7432), TTY/TDD (800/243-7889); the CDC Voice and Fax Information System (888/232-3228); the CDC National Prevention Information Network (800/458-5231) or its Web site at www.cdcnpin.org; or the CDC HIV/AIDS Web site at www.cdc.gov/hiv/dhap.htm.