Tuberculosis and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

India has the largest HIV-infected population in the world with over 4 million infected. The current evidence indicates that the doubling time of the epidemic in India is less than 2 years. Those infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis add to the gravity of the situation enhancing both morbidity and mortality in these dually infected patients. With the incomprehensive diagnostic facilities available, it is wise to exploit the situation with utilization of tuberculin test with a different cut off criterion for the early diagnosis of mycobacterial infection amongst HIV positive population, especially when there are financial constraints and lack of diagnostic facilities to get CD4 cell count.