Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jan;12(1):51-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2007.04.015. Epub 2007 Jul 23.

Risk factors and algorithms to identify hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV among Georgian tuberculosis patients

Mark H Kuniholm  1 , Jennifer Mark, Malvina Aladashvili, N Shubladze, G Khechinashvili, Tengiz Tsertsvadze, Carlos del Rio, Kenrad E Nelson
Affiliations

Risk factors and algorithms to identify hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV among Georgian tuberculosis patients

Mark H Kuniholm et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2008 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine prevalence, risk factors, and simple identification algorithms for HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C co-infection; factors that may predispose for anti-tuberculosis therapy-induced hepatotoxicity.

Methods: We recruited 300 individuals at in-patient tuberculosis hospitals in three cities in Georgia, administered a behavioral questionnaire, and tested for antibody to HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), and the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).

Results: Of the individuals tested, 0.7% were HIV positive, 4.3% were HBsAg positive, 8.7% were anti-HBc positive, and 12.0% were HCV positive. In multivariable analysis, a history of blood transfusion, injection drug use, and prison were significant independent risk factors for HCV, while a history of blood transfusion, injection drug use, younger age at sexual debut, and a high number of sex partners were significant risk factors for HBV. Three-questionnaire item algorithms predicted HCV serostatus 74.1% of the time and HBV serostatus 85.2% of the time.

Conclusions: Treatment of tuberculosis patients in resource-limited countries with concurrent epidemics of HCV, HBV, and HIV may be associated with significant hepatotoxicity. Serologic screening of tuberculosis patients for HBV, HCV, and HIV or using behavioral algorithms to identify patients in need of intensive monitoring during anti-tuberculosis therapy may reduce this risk.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Republic of Georgia
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dye C, Scheele S, Dolin P, Pathania V, Raviglione MC. Consensus statement. Global burden of tuberculosis: estimated incidence, prevalence, and mortality by country. WHO Global Surveillance and Monitoring Project. JAMA. 1999;282:677–686. - PubMed
    1. Dye C. Global epidemiology of tuberculosis. Lancet. 2006;367:938–940. - PubMed
    1. Baltussen R, Floyd K, Dye C. Cost effectiveness analysis of strategies for tuberculosis control in developing countries. BMJ. 2005;331:1364. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Raviglione MC, Uplekar MW. WHO's new Stop TB Strategy. Lancet. 2006;367:952–955. - PubMed
    1. Schechter M, Zajdenverg R, Falco G, Barnes GL, Faulhaber JC, Coberly JS, et al. Weekly rifapentine/isoniazid or daily rifampin/pyrazinamide for latent tuberculosis in household contacts. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006;173:922–926. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms