Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from tuberculosis patients with HIV infection or AIDS

Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Jul 1;144(1):69-77. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008856.

Abstract

Contacts exposed to tuberculosis patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection were compared with contacts of HIV-negative patients for evidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission, based on a review of records of tuberculin skin tests administered during routine health department follow-up investigations in Miami/Dade County, Florida, from 1985 through 1989. After an adjusted analysis designed to balance background prevalence, tuberculin positivity was 42.0% in 2,158 contacts of HIV-negative patients compared with 28.6% and 31.3% in 363 contacts of HIV-infected patients and 732 contacts of AIDS patients, respectively. Similar results were observed in a subset of 5- to 14-year-old contacts of United States-born black or white tuberculosis patients chosen to minimize the possibility of false-negative tuberculin tests in contacts due to undiagnosed HIV infection. Analysis of contacts as sets showed a more than expected number of sets with none or all contacts infected, but this did not differ by HIV/AIDS group. In this study, tuberculosis patients with AIDS or HIV infection were less infectious to their contacts and, in this community, exposed fewer contacts than HIV-negative tuberculosis patients.

MeSH terms

  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / epidemiology
  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / transmission*
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Contact Tracing*
  • Female
  • Florida / epidemiology
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • HIV Seronegativity
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Population Surveillance
  • Prevalence
  • Tuberculin
  • Tuberculosis / epidemiology
  • Tuberculosis / transmission*
  • Urban Health

Substances

  • Tuberculin