Cain et al reported a similar distribution of causes of death
in TB-HIV patients. In a review of 142 deaths of patients
coinfected with TB-HIV in central and northeastern parts of
Thailand, they found that the highest proportion of deaths was
due to AOI (45%), with the second highest due to TB (27%).
The authors suspected ineffectiveness of preventive cotrimoxazole
therapy. That study and ours differ slightly in terms of
the immunological status of study population by of the median
CD4 count at TB diagnosis (55 cells/mm3 versus 37 cells/m,
respectively), and a higher TB incidence and case fatality rate
in Chiang Rai. Moreover, early deaths, within 14 days of
initiation of TB drugs, were excluded in the study reported by
Cain et al. Such deaths, according to our analysis and a previous
autopsy-based study, could be TB-related29 (Table 3).