Emerging Tuberculosis Among Patients with Previous COVID-19

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Yakupoğulları Y., Tanriverdi E. S., Ermiş H., Otlu B.

FLORA INFEKSIYON HASTALIKLARI VE KLINIK MIKROBIYOLOJI DERGISI, cilt.27, sa.4, ss.659-663, 2022 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 27 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.5578/flora.20229616
  • Dergi Adı: FLORA INFEKSIYON HASTALIKLARI VE KLINIK MIKROBIYOLOJI DERGISI
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.659-663
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Tuberculosis, Tuberculosis reactivation
  • İnönü Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

COVID-19 patients have a higher incidence of opportunistic infections, but there is little information on tuberculosis (TB). In this study,
it was aimed to determine any possible contribution of COVID-19 in TB emergence among patients diagnosed with TB during the pan-
demic. A retrospective screening of the regional TB laboratory’s records identified TB patients diagnosed in the Malatya region between
April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021. Medical data of TB patients with a prior COVID-19 were evaluated. During the study period,
171 TB patients were diagnosed in the region, with 26 also infected with SARS-CoV-2. Patients’ histories revealed that 10 (38.5%) of
these 26 patients developed TB symptoms in a median 68.5 days after COVID-19. Four patients had one-week to two-month cortico-
steroid treatment due to severe COVID-19, and one had a hematological malignancy history. However, the remaining five patients had
no significant predisposing factor for TB relapse. Four out of 10 patients were free of any finding for active TB before COVID-19. Severe
COVID-19 may have some obvious implications for TB reactivation, but there was no conclusive evidence of such an effect in mild to
moderate COVID-19. Nonetheless, inquiring about COVID-19 histories from TB patients in large-scale studies may provide high-quality
evidence about the interactions between the two pathogens.