HIV and TB emerge as African epidemic

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Cape Town, South Africa, is among the worst cities in the region affected by a epidemic of HIV and drug-resistant tuberculosis.

The BBC in Cape Town reported that children in the city’s slums are 100 times more likely to contract TB than elsewhere in the world.

A researcher working in the area says 90 percent of those who have both TB and HIV die within months if not afforded proper treatment.

Officials with the Forum for Collaborative HIV research said the situation is impacted by the deterioration of the immune system by HIV infection in coordination with increasingly drug resistance strains of TB.

Veronica Miller, direct of the forum, told the BBC that half of the recent TB infections are also infected with HIV.