In Women with HIV, TB Preventive Therapy Poses Greater Risk in Pregnancy than Postpartum | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

In Women with HIV, TB Preventive Therapy Poses Greater Risk in Pregnancy than Postpartum | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

In Women with HIV, TB Preventive Therapy Poses Greater Risk in Pregnancy than Postpartum

Study results published today help clarify how to safely prevent tuberculosis in women living with HIV who are pregnant or have recently given birth, are taking antiretroviral therapy and live where TB is highly prevalent. An NIH-funded clinical trial has found that for these women, treatment with the antibiotic isoniazid to prevent TB was similarly safe if begun during pregnancy or 12 weeks after delivery. However, there was significantly greater risk of poor health outcomes and death for the fetuses and newborns of these women if isoniazid preventive therapy began during pregnancy than if it began 12 weeks after delivery. This finding is concerning and merits research into alternative approaches to TB preventive therapy in pregnant women, according to the study investigators. Their findings are reported in the October 3 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.