XDR-TB found in HIV-positive people in India

Authors of this study found four people with XDR-TB among 54 HIV-positive TB patients in a nine month period between March and December 2006. All four patients died within three months.

The rate of multidrug resistant (MDR) TB in India is higher than in any country other than China, prompting researchers to expect a high rate of XDR-TB. HIV-positive patients who were co-infected with TB were recruited from among those who received care from the All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi.

The study was conducted between March and December 2006. During the study period, 54 HIV-positive patients were diagnosed with TB and 24 of these patients had culture-positive TB.

Drug sensitivity testing of specimens obtained from each of the 24 patients with culture-positive TB. This testing showed that twelve (50%) individuals had MDR-TB.

When samples from patients with MDR-TB were subjected to further tests it was established that four patients (33.3%) had XDR-TB. Three of these patients were men, and the mean CD4 cell count was 102 cells/mm³. All four patients died within 2.6 months of XDR-TB being diagnosed.