Standardized screening rule for TB in people living with HIV in low income settings
In 2009, 1.7 million people died from TB— which translates to 4700 deaths a day—including 380, 000 people living with HIV. TB remains the most common cause of death in people living with HIV. This week in PLoS Medicine, Haileyesus Getahun (WHO) and colleagues report the development of a simple, standardized tuberculosis (TB) screening rule for resource-constrained settings, to identify people living with HIV who need further investigation for TB disease. The results of this study, which included an individual participant data meta-analysis, suggest that in such settings, the absence of current cough, fever, night sweats, and weight loss (all inclusive) can identify those people living with HIV who have a low probability of having TB disease. Furthermore, any one of these symptoms can be used in resource-constrained settings to identify people living with HIV who are in need of further diagnostic assessment for TB.
Funding: No direct funding was received for this study. The authors were personally salaried by their institutions during the period of writing (although no specific salary was set aside or given for the writing of this paper). No funding bodies had any role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. The World Health Organization covered the cost of the meeting of the principal investigators.
Competing Interests: HG and RG are staff members of the World Health Organization. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication and they do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the World Health Organization.
Citation: Getahun H, Kittikraisak W, Heilig CM, Corbett EL, Ayles H, et al. (2011) Development of a Standardized Screening Rule for Tuberculosis in People Living with HIV in Resource-Constrained Settings: Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis of Observational Studies. PLoS Med 8(1): e1000391. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000391
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000391
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: www.plos.org/press/plme-08-01-getahun.pdf
CONTACT:
Dr. Haileyesus Getahun
World Health Organisation
Stop TB Department
Avenue Appia 20
Geneva, 1211
Switzerland
+41 22 7911862
getahunh@who.int
Journal
PLoS Medicine