COVID-19 and tuberculosis coinfection: A case-control study from a tertiary care center in South India

• Published in: Journal of family medicine and primary care 2023-12, Vol.12 (12), p.3200-3203
• Main Authors: Hazra, Druti, Siddalingaiah, Nayana, Gupta, Nitin, Chawla, Kiran, Prabhu, A Ravindra, Datta, Divya, Khader, Nisha, Swaminathan, Shilna Muttickal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: case-control; clinical features; coinfection; Comorbidity; Control; Coronaviruses; covid-19; Health aspects; Original; Tuberculosis
• ISSN: 2249-4863; 2278-7135
• DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_791_23

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and tuberculosis (TB), are presently the major infectious diseases imposing a consequential public health threat and their coinfection has a significant impact on the outcome. To evaluate the clinical features and outcomes of COVID-19-TB coinfected cases compared to solely COVID-19-infected cases. A retrospective observational study was conducted between August 1, 2020, to February 28, 2022, at a tertiary care hospital. In this case-control study, an equal number of gender-age-matched COVID-19 and TB coinfected patients and COVID-19 cases without TB were included using simple random sampling. The data was analyzed using SPSS v 26. Categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square test, and an independent -test or Mann-Whitney U test was applied for the quantitative variables in the univariate analysis. A -value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. A total of 27 patients were included in each group. Upper lobe involvement (44%) and pleural effusion (22%) were significantly more common in TB-COVID-19 cases when compared to the control group (7% and 4%, respectively; < 0.05). Moreover, median levels of C-reactive protein and ferritin were significantly higher in TB-COVID-19 coinfection. Chest radiology and a higher level of certain biomarkers like C-reactive protein and ferritin can help to suspect TB in COVID-19 patients and vice-versa.