Mycobacteremia and HIV Infection

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. With the advent of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) pandemic, the problem of TB has got worse. The incidence of TB in patients with HIV infection / AIDS is nearly 500 times higher than in the general population. In HIV infected patients tuberculosis may frequently present in sites other than the lungs, lymphadenitis being the most common but it may be in the bone, liver, or in almost any organ of the body. Disseminated tuberculosis (DTB) is also more common in patients with HIV infection. Diagnosis of TB is also difficult in patients with HIV infection as rate of sputum AFB positivity is less and chest X-Ray changes are also atypical. The prevalence of extrapulmonary TB is also higher in patients with HIV infection were obtaining clinical samples is difficult. The present work is done to evaluate role of Mycobacteremia, which is a simple and convenient test done by blood culture using MB\Bact method, in diagnosis of tuberculosis with or without HIV infection.