Aspects of tuberculosis in Africa. 2. The value of microbiology in the management of tuberculosis in Nairobi, Kenya.

A group of African patients with tuberculosis were followed over the first month of treatment to assess the bactericidal response to 2 treatment regimens (streptomycin/thiacetazone/isoniazid and streptomycin/rifampicin/isoniazid/pyrazinamide). Patients also infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) had lower pre-treatment counts of viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis and a greater proportion became culture-negative by 28 d. The response to therapy in HIV positive and HIV negative patients was similar. Because of the combination of these findings and the higher early mortality in patients with HIV, the causes of acute infection in patients with tuberculosis were studied. It was found that HIV positive patients were frequently bacteraemic and that the principal pathogen was Salmonella typhimurium, but recurrent pneumococcal bacteraemia was also seen.