Denying TB medication until a skin test has been performed is putting HIV+ individuals at high risk of developing active , according to this
latest study.
“It’s taking too long for people to get a TST, and among those who have a TST, even for those who have a positive result, it’s taking them a long time to get put onto IPT,” said Dr Jonathan Golub of Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis and the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS Tuberculosis Epidemic (CREATE).
The skin test is proving to be too difficult to administer - failure to return was the factor in another
study from Brazil
Dr Resende stressed that the TST takes two clinic visits; the application of the test and the reading schedule for the skin reaction make it difficult to get patients to come in to have their test results read on the right day.
The solution? skip the TB test entirely
"We could eliminate TST and give IPT to all HIV-infected patients. This would save a lot of money, it would be much more convenient, much easier to conduct at the clinics.”
