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HIV and TB management
HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are life-threatening chronic illnesses that require urgent medical care. HIV is a disease that can be transmitted through sexual contact or through infected bodily fluids such as semen and blood.
HIV and TB commonly co-occur because tuberculosis can remain latent in the body of healthy individuals, and TB infection develops easily in HIV-infected individuals due to their weakened immune systems. Therefore, TB is considered the leading cause of fatality in HIV patients.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that arises from the bacteria Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. However, the infection is common in patients with HIV, those with cancer or undergoing chemotherapy, the immune-compromised, the elderly and those with autoimmune illnesses on disease-modifying agents (DMA) and lifelong steroid therapy. However, with routine immunisations performed on infants, the incidence of tuberculosis in children and adults is low. Tuberculosis is known to affect the lower respiratory tract. Still, it can also target other organs such as the intestines, abdominal lymph nodes, neck and axillary nodes, skin, bones, liver and meninges.
A latent TB infection can quickly advance to the final stage of tuberculosis in patients with HIV due to the weakened state of their immune systems.
Symptoms of advanced tuberculosis in HIV patients include:
- Weight loss
- Lethargy
- Poor appetite
- Fever
- Night sweats
- Coughing out sputum with traces of blood
Patients with HIV are most likely to develop active TB, especially with a CD4 count lower than 200. As a result, both infections occurring at the same time are indicative of AIDS, which is the final stage of HIV infection
Living with HIV means you have to get diagnosed and treated for TB. By managing TB along with HIV, you can live a long and healthy life, and this can prevent the progression of AIDS in a short space of time.
Antiretrovirals (ARVs) and medication for tuberculosis (TB) must be commenced as soon as a diagnosis is made to prevent severe life-threatening complications. However, a new guideline makes the provision for Highly-Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) as soon as a diagnosis of HIV is proven to prevent the disease’s progression to AIDS. The early and continuous use of ARVs ensures the well-being of the patient and assists in preventing HIV transmission in the community.
The Milestones Family Medical Practice offers Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent HIV transmission as a result of unprotected sexual intercourse or ruptured condoms, and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to assist in the prevention of accidental exposure to HIV in a serodiscordant relationship whereby the one partner is HIV negative, and the other is HIV positive.
FAQ
TB infection in a patient with HIV can be treated effectively with anti-TB drugs. The first stage of treating the disease involves testing for TB in patients diagnosed with HIV before initiating Anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. If active TB is not diagnosed before the initiation of ARV drugs, the patient can suffer from a severe form of TB due to a phenomenon called “Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (IRIS).
TB can cause severe complications that can lead to death, such as pneumothorax, TB pericarditis, TB meningitis and miliary TB.
- Smoking
- Drug injections
- Diabetes
- HIV
- TB drug resistance
- Severe Drug Induced Liver injury from anti-TB drugs in a few cases
ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Additional services available at Milestone’s Family Practice include:
Early antenatal care and sonars
Women's Health, pap smears, contraceptive pills, patches and implants, as well as intrauterine devices insertions and removals
Minor surgical procedures
Minor fracture and sprain management
Corporate and general medical checks
Intravenous fluid rehydration therapy, iron infusions, vitamin injections and jet fuel therapy
The family physician sees himself or herself as part of a community-wide
network of supportive and health-care agencies.
Prof. Ian McWhinney