My son is hiv pos. Blood test said he had latent TB not active and chest xray looked ok but the Dr put him on Isoniazid andabout3 months into them he had bad nose bleeds several times a day and at night while sleeping so she took him off Isoniazid and didnt put him on anything else for TB. then a month later she started him on hiv meds. as he had not been on the yet. He is now on Atripila(sorry spelling not good)I am worried about TB now. should he be on anything for latent TB with his Atripila? should he have tests for TB or what should the Dr be looking for I don't want him to get active TB.

There is much confusion about TB testing. Sounds like your son had a test to see if he was ever EXPOSED to TB. This showed his body has been exposed at some time to TB but further testing revealed no ACTIVE disease with TB. This means he has some TB in him but that it is not causing any trouble. The problem is it can at a later date, especially when the immune system is weakened. Think of it as an ember that could ingrate into a raging fire.

So, to reduce the risk of this from becoming active disease isoniazid is given to reduce the amount of TB in the body. This reduces risk of active TB by about 90%.

At this point it sounds like nothing more to do and that he should start his HIV medications. Improvements in his immune system on HIV therapy will further reduce the risk of active TB later on.

Importantly, without active disease, your son is not infectious with his TB. He can not give TB to anyone unless his TB became active.

DW