Source: Xinhua
03-26-2009 11:38
Special Report: Tech MaxBEIJING, March 25 (Xinhuanet) -- World Health Organization officials said the number of people infected with both tuberculosis and HIV has doubled mostly because of "more widespread testing and reporting."
There were 1.37 million cases of people with both TB and HIV in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available. About 700,000 people were infected with both in 2006, the World Health Organization's annual report on TB, presented in Rio, showed last year.
According to researchers, "direct information on the HIV status among TB patients is now available from 64 nations _ up from just 13 nations in recent years. More reporting is also coming from Africa, where 79 percent of the dual-infection cases were reported."
In 2007, 1.3 million people died from TB, while another 465,000 people who had both TB and HIV died. About 1.5 million people died in 2006 from TB, according to WHO's report last year. It was not clear how many of those who died also were infected with HIV.
WHO researchers said the new data means HIV-positive people are about 20 times more likely than HIV-negative people to develop TB in countries where HIV is at epidemic levels, and between 26 and 37 times more likely to develop TB where HIV prevalence is lower.
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Editor:Yang Jie
