title: To routinely offer testing for HIV infection in all cases of tuberculosis: a rational clinical approach?
abstract: The strong interaction between the HIV and tuberculosis epidemics has been well described. Australian national surveillance data suggest that HIV status is ascertained by clinicians in less than 50% of people with tuberculosis. Clinicians are not able to reliably predict which people have HIV infection - risk factor assessment alone is insufficient. Because tuberculosis is an AIDS-defining condition and highly effective therapy for HIV infection is available, all patients with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection should be offered HIV testing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia. jeffrey.post@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Post
authors.forename: Carol R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Emerson
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D015995:Prevalence; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology*