Tuberculosis in the time of COVID-19: quality of life and digital innovation

Visca, Dina; Tiberi, Simon; Pontali, Emanuele; Spanevello, Antonio; Migliori, Giovanni Battista

doi:10.1183/13993003.01998-2020

Cited by 41 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…Zumla and his colleagues have estimated that in the next 5 years, the annual number of cases and deaths from TB may increase as attention is diverted away from TB treatment and prevention programs by the new COVID-19 pandemic [ 16 , 17 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and Tuberculosis Coinfection in a 51-Year-Old Taxi Driver in Mexico City

Orozco¹,

Tinajero²,

Vargas³

et al. 2020

Am J Case Rep

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Patient: Male, 51-year-old Final Diagnosis: COVID-19 Symptoms: Anosmia • dysgeusia • nocturnal diaphoresis Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Infectious Diseases Objective: Rare co-existance of disease or pathology Background: Coinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) has been reported, albeit rarely, in various parts of the world and has received attention from health systems because up to one-third of the world’s population has been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Mexico was not included in the first-ever report on a global cohort of patients with this coinfection. We report on a case of SARS-CoV-2/MBT coinfection in a 51-year-old taxi driver from Mexico City that underscores the importance of rapid and accurate laboratory testing, diagnosis, and treatment. Case Report: We present the case of a man in the sixth decade of life who was admitted to the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) with a diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia, which was confirmed by nasopharyngeal exudate using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the identification of SARS-CoV-2. Findings from imaging studies suggested that the patient might be coinfected with MBT. That suspicion was confirmed with light microscopy of a sputum sample after Ziehl-Neelsen staining and when a Cepheid Xpert MTB/RIF assay, an automated semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay, failed to detect rifampicin resistance. The patient was discharged from the hospital 10 days later. Conclusions: The present report underscores the importance of using validated molecular diagnostic tests to identify coin-fections in areas where there is a high prevalence of other causes of pneumonia, such as MBT, as a way to improve clinical outcomes in patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is imperative to control the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical community must not forget about the other pandemics to which populations are still prey, and tuberculosis is one of them. We must remain alert to any clinical subtleties so as to ensure timely and accurate diagnosis and stay one step ahead of COVID-19.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and Tuberculosis Coinfection in a 51-Year-Old Taxi Driver in Mexico City

Orozco¹,

Tinajero²,

Vargas³

et al. 2020

Am J Case Rep

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“…Furthermore, we do agree that the population of individuals with post-TB treatment sequelae deserves further evaluation, given the potential effect of both TB and COVID-19 on quality of life and subsequent need for rehabilitation [4][5][6].…”

Section: On Tuberculosis and Covid-19 Co-infectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 Translational Research Unit, National Institute for Infectious Diseases "L. Spallanzani", IRCCS, Rome, Italy. 6 Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche, Clinica Universitaria Malattie Infettive, Ospedale Amedeo di Savoia, Torino, Italia. 7 TB Reference Centre, Villa Marelli Institute, Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy.…”

Section: On Tuberculosis and Covid-19 Co-infectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The (in)significance of TB and COVID-19 co-infection

Khurana

Aggarwal²

2020

Eur Respir J

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We read with great interest the research letter by TADOLINI et al. [1], in which they have published the first cohort of 49 cases of tuberculosis (TB) and coronavirus disease 20019 (COVID-19) co-infection. However, a few issues regarding the letter need to be addressed. The authors categorised the patients with TB and COVID-19 co-infection into 3 groups based on timing of their diagnosis. However, in view of the difference in the natural history of TB (chronic course) and COVID-19 (acute), categorising 14 patients as having COVID-19 prior to TB (median time interval of 4 days between the two diagnosis) and nine as diagnosed simultaneously (within the same week) seems inappropriate. Since TB has an insidious onset, it is obvious that TB was present before COVID-19 infection in both the subgroups, although the diagnosis was made at different times. In fact, it may be right to say that all the three subgroups actually constitute a single group of old/active TB patients who developed COVID-19 infection. COVID-19 has probably just unmasked some of the subtle active TB cases that were responsible for hidden transmission in the general population [2]. Superimposed COVID-19 has brought them to the hospital to get a timely diagnosis.

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“…Both TB and COVID-19 present similar and non-specific clinical features—fever, cough, and dyspnea, or breathlessness [ 15 , 31 , 32 ]. When COVID-19 testing is not available, their similarities can easily lead to misdiagnosis and ineffective treatments [ 30 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Another potential challenge is the stigmatization of TB patients (for coughing), due to the fear of COVID-19 [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mycogenic Metal Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Mycobacterioses

2020

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Mycobacterial infections are a resurgent and increasingly relevant problem. Within these, tuberculosis (TB) is particularly worrying as it is one of the top ten causes of death in the world and is the infectious disease that causes the highest number of deaths. A further concern is the on-going emergence of antimicrobial resistance, which seriously limits treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened current circumstances and future infections will be more incident. It is urgent to plan, draw solutions, and act to mitigate these issues, namely by exploring new approaches. The aims of this review are to showcase the extensive research and application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and other metal nanoparticles (MNPs) as antimicrobial agents. We highlight the advantages of mycogenic synthesis, and report on their underexplored potential as agents in the fight against all mycobacterioses (non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections as well as TB). We propose further exploration of this field.

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Tuberculosis in the time of COVID-19: quality of life and digital innovation

Abstract: ERSpublications COVID-19 affects healthy individuals, patients and healthcare professionals, as well as tuberculosis services. The importance of digital technologies and the impact on quality of life are discussed.

Cited by 41 publications

References 28 publications

COVID-19 and Tuberculosis Coinfection in a 51-Year-Old Taxi Driver in Mexico City

COVID-19 and Tuberculosis Coinfection in a 51-Year-Old Taxi Driver in Mexico City

The (in)significance of TB and COVID-19 co-infection

Mycogenic Metal Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Mycobacterioses

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