PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

Major Challenges in Clinical Management of TB/HIV Coinfected Patients in Eastern Europe Compared with Western Europe and Latin America.

  • Anne Marie W Efsen,
  • Anna Schultze,
  • Frank A Post,
  • Alexander Panteleev,
  • Hansjakob Furrer,
  • Robert F Miller,
  • Marcelo H Losso,
  • Javier Toibaro,
  • Aliaksandr Skrahin,
  • Jose M Miro,
  • Joan A Caylà,
  • Enrico Girardi,
  • Mathias Bruyand,
  • Niels Obel,
  • Daria N Podlekareva,
  • Jens D Lundgren,
  • Amanda Mocroft,
  • Ole Kirk,
  • TB:HIV study group in EuroCoord

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0145380
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 12
p. e0145380

Abstract

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Rates of TB/HIV coinfection and multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB are increasing in Eastern Europe (EE). We aimed to study clinical characteristics, factors associated with MDR-TB and predicted activity of empiric anti-TB treatment at time of TB diagnosis among TB/HIV coinfected patients in EE, Western Europe (WE) and Latin America (LA).Between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2013, 1413 TB/HIV patients (62 clinics in 19 countries in EE, WE, Southern Europe (SE), and LA) were enrolled.Significant differences were observed between EE (N = 844), WE (N = 152), SE (N = 164), and LA (N = 253) in the proportion of patients with a definite TB diagnosis (47%, 71%, 72% and 40%, p<0.0001), MDR-TB (40%, 5%, 3% and 15%, p<0.0001), and use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) (17%, 40%, 44% and 35%, p<0.0001). Injecting drug use (adjusted OR (aOR) = 2.03 (95% CI 1.00-4.09), prior anti-TB treatment (3.42 (1.88-6.22)), and living in EE (7.19 (3.28-15.78)) were associated with MDR-TB. Among 585 patients with drug susceptibility test (DST) results, the empiric (i.e. without knowledge of the DST results) anti-TB treatment included ≥3 active drugs in 66% of participants in EE compared with 90-96% in other regions (p<0.0001).In EE, TB/HIV patients were less likely to receive a definite TB diagnosis, more likely to house MDR-TB and commonly received empiric anti-TB treatment with reduced activity. Improved management of TB/HIV patients in EE requires better access to TB diagnostics including DSTs, empiric anti-TB therapy directed at both susceptible and MDR-TB, and more widespread use of cART.