Potentially preventable tuberculosis among HIV-infected persons in the era of highly active antiretroviral treatment.

Objective: To characterize the proportion of tuberculosis (TB) cases that could have been prevented among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected persons receiving care in the era of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART).

Design: We conducted an observational cohort study among HIV-infected patients with >or=2 out-patient visits at the Comprehensive Care Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2005.

Methods: A potentially preventable TB case was defined as a case in which the patient received no screening tuberculin skin test (TST) prior to TB diagnosis or a case in which a patient with a positive screening TST did not complete treatment for latent infection.

Results: Of 3601 HIV-infected persons in care (13 905 person-years [p-y] of follow-up), 29 developed TB (230/100,000 p-y). Of the 29, 20 (69%) had not had TST performed as part of routine screening. Of the nine patients screened, four had a positive test, three of whom completed treatment for latent TB infection. Of 29 TB cases, 21 (72%) were therefore potentially preventable.

Conclusions: Most TB cases in this cohort were potentially preventable had the patients undergone a screening TST followed by treatment of latent infection if they had a positive TST.