Title:Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Post COVID-19 Patients: Occurrence and
Clinical Profile
Volume: 19
Issue: 3
Author(s): S. Vijayalakshmi, J.S. Akshata*, Anushree Chakraborthy, Swathi Karanth, Swapna Ramaswamy and Nagaraja Chikkavenkatappa
Affiliation:
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, SDS TRC and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, Bangalore, India
Keywords:
Respiratory symptoms, diabetes mellitus, immunosuppressive.
Abstract:
Background: Tuberculosis continues to be a major public health disease to date. The
mortality of this disease, which was reducing till 2019, was reversed in 2020 and 2021, as per the
global tuberculosis report 2022. The novel coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic has affected
tuberculosis management in various aspects. The transient immunosuppression associated
with the disease and the treatment modality has been speculated to activate latent tuberculosis infection
as well as increase the infection risk with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.
Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics of post-COVID-19 pulmonary
tuberculosis patients.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective descriptive analysis of post-COVID-19 patients admitted
from January 2021 to May 2022 with persistent or new-onset respiratory symptoms. The occurrence
of pulmonary tuberculosis in these patients and their clinico- demographic details are summarized.
Results: About 31(19.4%) of 160 post-COVID-19 patients with respiratory symptoms were diagnosed
to have pulmonary tuberculosis. About 21(67.7%) had comorbidities, of which the predominant
was diabetes mellitus in 14(45%) patients, and the majority (85%) had poorly controlled blood
sugar levels. None of the patients had a history of contact with a pulmonary tuberculosis patient in
the previous 2 years, but 4(13%) patients had a previous history of tuberculosis. Moreover,.66% of
cases had a history of moderate and severe COVID-19 disease, and 70% had received systemic corticosteroids
and other immunosuppressive drugs like tocilizumab during the COVID-19 illness
treatment. More than 50% of the patients had negative smears for acid-fast bacilli and were diagnosed
using rapid molecular methods like CBNAAT and LPA. Drug-resistant tuberculosis was seen
in 6(19%) patients. 4(13%) patients died during the hospitalized course of treatment, and the remaining
27(87%) were discharged with antituberculous treatment, but their final outcome is unknown.
Conclusion: A high index of suspicion and use of rapid molecular diagnostic methods is indicated
in post-COVID-19 patients with respiratory symptoms for early diagnosis of tuberculosis and prevention
of community transmission. Identification of post-COVID-19 patients with latent tuberculosis
infection and the feasibility of advocation of tuberculosis preventive therapy in such patients, especially
those with other risk factors like diabetes mellitus, need to be considered.
