Patients being treated for tuberculosis (TB) may not get the full benefits from HIV therapy, researchers say

Nevirapine - a cheap antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV in developing countries - did not work as well in patients also on TB treatment. Around 40% of HIV patients in the South African study were also treated for TB. In poorer countries, antiretroviral therapy is often initiated in TB clinics, because TB is an infection common in HIV patients. Nevirapine is a common choice because of its cost and can be used in women of child-bearing age. Researchers looked at almost 4,000 patients who started antiretroviral therapy between 2001 and 2006. The researchers found that patients with tuberculosis who were also treated with nevirapine were about twice as likely to have a high viral load - that is high levels of HIV in their system - as those without tuberculosis. And patients being treated with nevirapine with TB therapy were more than twice as likely to develop speedy virological failure - where the drugs are not working.