Background Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is associated with substantial mortality in HIV-infected patients. Optimal timing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in persons with CM represents a clinical challenge, and the burden of CM in Latin America has not been well described. Studies suggest that early ART initiation is associated with higher mortality, but data from the Americas are scarce. Methods HIV-infected adults in care between 1985–2014 at participating sites in the Latin America (the Caribbean, Central and South America network (CCASAnet)) and the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic (VCCC) and who had CM were included. Survival probabilities were estimated. Risk of death when initiating ART within the first 2 weeks after CM diagnosis versus initiating between 2–8 weeks was assessed using dynamic marginal structural models adjusting for site, age, sex, year of CM, CD4 count, and route of HIV transmission. Findings 340 patients were included (Argentina 58, Brazil 138, Chile 28, Honduras 27, Mexico 34, VCCC 55) and 142 (42%) died during the observation period. Among 151 patients with CM prior to ART 56 (37%) patients died compared to 86 (45%) of 189 with CM after ART initiation (p=0.14). Patients diagnosed with CM after ART had higher risk of death (p=0.03, log-rank test). The probability of survival was not statistically different between patients who started ART within 2 weeks of CM (7/24, 29%) vs. those initiating between 2–8 weeks (14/53, 26%) (p=0.96), potentially due to lack of power. Interpretation In this large Latin-American cohort, patients with CM had very high mortality rates, especially those diagnosed after ART initiation. This study reflects the overwhelming burden of CM in HIV-infected patients in Latin America.

Background Some tuberculosis (TB) treatment guidelines recommend daily TB treatment in both the intensive and continuation phases of treatment in HIV-positive persons to decrease the risk of relapse and acquired drug resistance. However, guidelines vary across countries, and treatment is given 7, 5, 3, or 2 days/week. The effect of TB treatment intermittency in the continuation phase on mortality in HIV-positive persons on antiretroviral therapy (ART), is not well-described. Methods We conducted an observational cohort study among HIV-positive adults treated for TB between 2000 and 2018 and after enrollment into the Caribbean, Central, and South America network for HIV epidemiology (CCASAnet; Brazil, Chile, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Peru). All received standard TB therapy (2-month initiation phase of daily isoniazid, rifampin or rifabutin, pyrazinamide ± ethambutol) and continuation phase of isoniazid and rifampin or rifabutin, administered concomitantly with ART. Known timing of ART and TB treatment were also inclusion criteria. Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards methods compared time to death between groups. Missing model covariates were imputed via multiple imputation. Results 2303 patients met inclusion criteria: 2003(87%) received TB treatment 5–7 days/week and 300(13%) 2–3 days/week in the continuation phase. Intermittency varied by site: 100% of patients from Brazil and Haiti received continuation phase treatment 5–7 days/week, followed by Honduras (91%), Peru (42%), Mexico (7%), and Chile (0%). The crude risk of death was lower among those receiving treatment 5–7 vs. 2–3 days/week (HR = 0.68; 95% CI = 0.51—0.91; P = 0.008). After adjusting for age, sex, CD4, ART use at TB diagnosis, site of TB disease (pulmonary vs. extrapulmonary), and year of TB diagnosis, mortality risk was lower, but not significantly, among those treated 5–7 days/week vs. 2–3 days/week (HR 0.75, 95%CI 0.55–1.01; P = 0.06). After also stratifying by study site, there was no longer a protective effect (HR 1.42, 95%CI 0.83–2.45; P = 0.20). Conclusions TB treatment 5–7 days/week was associated with a marginally decreased risk of death compared to TB treatment 2–3 days/week in the continuation phase in multivariable, unstratified analyses. However, little variation in TB treatment intermittency within country meant the results could have been driven by other differences between study sites. Therefore, randomized trials are needed, especially in heterogenous regions such as Latin America.