Does tuberculosis increase HIV load?

Abstract

Background. The effect that tuberculosis (TB) has on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression is not clearly understood. Methods. In an observational cohort study of HIV-infected adults in South Africa, baseline and final HIV load were compared between individuals who experienced an episode of TB (n = 30) during follow-up and control subjects (n = 56) matched by baseline CD4 cell count and follow-up time; linear regression modeling was used to control for confounding. Results. Mean HIV load was higher in the TB group than in the non-TB control group for both baseline (4.73 vs. 4.24 log 10 copies/mL; P = .003) and final values (5.02 vs. 4.34 log 10 copies/mL; P