Tuberculosis and opportunistic infections: Relevance to biologic agents

J. Bieber, A. Kavanaugh

The Center for Innovative Therapy, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, The University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, California, USA

"... che nel principio del suo male è facile a curare e difficile a conoscere, ma, nel progresso del tempo, non l'avendo in principio conosciuta né medicata, diventa facile a conoscere e difficile a curare."
from Il Principe by Nicolló Machiavelli (1469-1527)
("In its beginning, the malady [tuberculosis] is easier to cure but difficult to detect, but later it becomes easy to detect but difficult to cure")

ABSTRACT
With the expanding use of biologic agents, in particular TNF inhibitors, tuberculosis and other opportunistic infections have become an important and growing concern in rheumatology. Clinicians using these therapies should have an understanding of the scope of the problem, the underlying scientific rationale, as well as the optimal approaches to screening, monitoring and treatment.

Key words
Tuberculosis, TNF inhibitors, opportunistic infections, biologic agents, rheumatoid arthritis.

Please address correspondence to: Arthur Kavanaugh, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director, The Center for Innovative Therapy, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0943, USA.

Clin Exp Rheumatol 2004; 22 (Suppl. 35): S126-S133.
© Copyright Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2004.