Faecal mycobacteria and their relationship to HIV-related enteritis in Lusaka, Zambia.

The prevalence of infection with mycobacteria, both typical and atypical, is increasing along with prevalence of infection with HIV. Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and patients with chronic diarrhoea are forming a growing proportion of the patient population in hospitals in central Africa. To investigate the possibility that mycobacteria may be responsible for some of the HIV-related enteropathy seen in Lusaka, we studied 89 patients in four different diagnostic groups, clinically, by Mantoux test and by microscopy and culture of stool specimens for mycobacteria.