Ko-infeksi Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) dengan Mycobacterium leprae

Abstract

Human immunodefficiency virus (HIV) epidemic covers several countries with endemic leprosy without any significant
increase in the number of patients co-infected with HIV and leprosy, so it can be concluded that HIV-positive does not
increase the risk of developing leprosy. Clinicopathological spectrum of leprosy patients who are co-infected with
HIV is not changed. Leprosy may be attributed to the presence of immune recovery syndrome after the administration
of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Long-term incubation period and the low incidence of leprosy in
patients with HIV make prospective cohort or case-control studies on the prevalence of leprosy among a group of HIV
positive and HIV negative hardly possible to be performed. The benefit of this circumstance is the HIV pandemic
does not become a nuisance of the effort to control leprosy. Further studies on the molecular pathogenesis of M.
leprae and other mycobacterial can provide an understanding of the differences of the pathogenesis in patients with
HIV infection.