A seven-country prospective cohort of 1,703 adults with HIV found Mycobacterium tuberculosis bloodstream infection predominantly among inpatients and associated it with higher 30-day mortality.
Key findings
- MTB bloodstream infection occurred in 4.4% of inpatients (32/723), representing 22.5% of microbiologically confirmed inpatient TB (32/142), versus 0.2% of outpatients (2/913). It was associated with a 30-day mortality hazard ratio of 2.65 (95% credible interval 1.06–5.01); the 70-day estimate was 1.79 (0.81–3.11), with uncertainty crossing 1.
Why this matters globally
Blood testing may help identify critically ill patients in high-burden settings and motivates evaluation of faster diagnostic strategies for disseminated TB.
Thai researcher contribution
Thai investigators and sites from Chulalongkorn University, the Thai Red Cross and infectious-disease services contributed to the multinational network.
Limitations to consider
This was observational with only 34 bloodstream-positive cases. Cross-country differences and residual confounding remain possible, and results should not be generalized to all people with HIV.
Verify the original sources
Open Forum Infectious DiseasesRead the original article↗DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofag424