Tuberculosis is a disease caused by bacteria that are spread through the air. While HIV weakens the immune system, this condition increases the risk of tuberculosis. If this co-infection is not detected early and actively controlled, it will cause the patient's health to decline rapidly, and co-infection with many other opportunistic infections.

Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS create a major burden of infectious disease in resource-poor countries. In the patient’s body, these two pathogens, the tuberculosis bacteria and the HIV virus, promote each other to accelerate the rate of immune function decline and lead to death if left untreated.