Abstract:
We examined the incidence of and risk factors for tuber-
culosis during the first year of highly active antiretroviral
therapy in low-income (4540 patients) and high-income
(22,217 patients) countries. Although incidence was much
higher in low-income countries, the reduction in the inci-
dence of tuberculosis associated with highly active antiret-
roviral therapy was similar: the rate ratio for months 7–12
versus months 1–3 was 0.48 (95% confidence interval, 0.36–
0.64) in low-income countries and 0.36 (95% confidence in-
terval, 0.26–0.50) in high-income countries. A low CD4 cell
count at the start of therapy was the most important risk
factor in both settings
