title: Prevalence of mycobacteremia in patients with AIDS and persistant fever.
abstract: In the advanced stages of AIDS, characterized by severe immunodepression, tuberculosis (TB) may present with a clinical picture of septic shock, due to typical bacteremia. Hematogenic dissemination of mycobacteria is frequent in immunodepressed patients with TB or disseminated mycobacteriosis, leading to increased positivity in detection by automated blood culture. The objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of mycobacteremia in patients with AIDS and with prolonged fever seen at the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectology. Patients with a history of daily fever (> or = 37.8 degrees C), lasting more than 30 days, and with CD4+ helper lymphocyte counts below 200 cells/mL, were selected from February 2001 to March 2002. A 5 mL peripheral blood sample was collected from each patient for mycobacterial blood culture by an automated method, using the BACTEC 9000 MB and MB/BACT techniques. Forty-five patients aged on average 35 years, most of them males, were included in the study. The mean T CD4+ lymphocyte count was 58 cells/mL. Among the samples submitted to blood culture, 30% gave M. tuberculosis growth, with 62% sensitivity. Among the patients with a negative blood culture, nine had received a diagnosis of TB by another method. Automated blood culture proved to be a technique of relevant diagnostic value for M. tuberculosis in patients with prolonged fever in advanced stages of AIDS. The method is simple, and it helps the physician to select the best therapeutic option.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Infectologia Emílio Ribas Infectious Diseases Institute, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. hbacha@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Hélio Arthur
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Bacha
authors.forename: Sérgio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cimerman
authors.forename: Simone A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: David Jamil
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hadad
authors.forename: Caio Márcio Figueiredo
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mendes
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D000328:Adult; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D003470:Culture Media; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media