Systematic Empirical vs. Test-guided Anti-TB Treatment Impact in Severely Immunosuppressed HIV-infected Adults Initiating ART With CD4 Cell Counts <100/mm3

In countries with a high tuberculosis (TB) prevalence, TB and invasive bacterial infections are leading causes of early death in patients who initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) with advanced immunodeficiency. We hypothesize that a systematic 6-month empirical TB treatment initiated 2 weeks before the introduction of ART in HIV-infected adults with severe immunosuppression (CD4\<100/mm3) and no overt evidence of TB will reduce the risk of death and invasive bacterial infections. This strategy will be compared to one of extensive TB testing using point-of-care tests (Xpert MTB/RIF® and urine lipoarabinomanan LAM) and chest X-ray to identify and treat only patients with at least one positive test suggestive of TB.