Screening for Latent Tuberculosis Infection in People Living with HIV: TUBHIVIT Project, a Multicenter Italian Study.
Luca PipitòElena Delfina RicciPaolo MaggiGiuseppe Vittorio De SocioGiovanni Francesco PellicanòMarcello TrizzinoRaffaella RubinoAlessandra LanziLorenzo CrupiIlaria CapriglioneNicola SquillaceGiuseppe NunnariAntonio Di BiagioBonfanti PaoloAntonio Cascionull nullPublished in: Viruses (2024)
A total of 1105 PLHIV were screened for LTBI using the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus test, revealing a prevalence of 3.4% of positive results (38/1105). Non-Italy-born individuals exhibited a significantly higher likelihood of testing positive. Thirty-one were diagnosed with LTBI, 1 showed active subclinical TB, and 6 were lost to follow-up before discriminating between latent and active TB. Among the PLHIV diagnosed with LTBI, 83.9% (26/31) started chemoprophylaxis. Most individuals received 6-9 months of isoniazid-based therapy. Of the 26 PLHIV commencing chemoprophylaxis, 18 (69.2%) completed the therapy, while 3 discontinued it and 5 were still on treatment at the time of the analysis. Adverse events were observed in two cases, while in one case the patient refused to continue the treatment.