Management of drug resistantTB in patients with HIV co-infection

Introduction: Multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR- and XDR-TB) are major public health concerns worldwide. Their association with HIV/AIDS infection has contributed to the slowing down of TB incidence decline over the last two decades, therefore representing one of the most important barriers to reach TB elimination. Areas covered: The aim of this manuscript is to critically review the recent scientific evidence on the management of drug-resistant TB (essentially MDR- and XDR-TB) in subjects coinfected with HIV, focusing on the two new recently-approved anti-TB drugs delamanid and bedaquiline. The medical search-engine PubMed was used, selecting the time-period January 2013 - February 2015, and using the following Keywords: drug-resistant TB, multidrug resistant TB (or MDR-TB), extensively drug-resistant TB (or XDR-TB), delamanid and bedaquiline. Expert opinion: The TB/HIV co-epidemic can be faced by implementing the 12 TB/HIV collaborative activities recommended by the World Health Organization. They are focused on the systematic screening of individuals to detect the Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in HIV-positives, as well as HIV infection in TB patients in order to ensure a rapid initiation of the anti-retroviral therapy (ART). The clinical and public health management of HIV-positive individuals with MDR-TB is complex and expensive, given the cost of second line anti-TB drugs (including the new drugs, delamanid and bedaquiline) and ART. Political commitment and more investment to identify shorter, cheaper and effective anti-TB and HIV regimens as well as better diagnostics and, hopefully, a vaccine will contribute to boost the efforts to eliminate TB.