Reactivation of Tuberculosis in the Setting of COVID-19 Infection

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2) was declared a pandemic by WHO in March 2020. The causative organism has since undergone a series of mutations. COVID-19 primarily being a respiratory illness causes pre-existing pulmonary dis...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2022-03, Vol.14 (3), p.e23417
Main Authors: Noori, Muhammad Atif Masood, Younes, Islam, Latif, Asnia, Fichadiya, Hardik, Elkattawy, Sherif, Khandait, Harshwardhan, Nawachukwu, Onyeka, Garg, Vipin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cardiovascular disease
Case reports
Cavitation
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Infections
Infectious Disease
Internal Medicine
Kinases
Pandemics
Patients
Pulmonology
Respiratory distress syndrome
Steroids
Tuberculosis
Viral infections
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2) was declared a pandemic by WHO in March 2020. The causative organism has since undergone a series of mutations. COVID-19 primarily being a respiratory illness causes pre-existing pulmonary diseases to show worse clinical outcomes. About one-third of the world's population is thought to be infected with latent (MTB). Both previous and newly developed tuberculosis (TB) infection are risk factors for COVID-19 and are associated with poor outcomes. T lymphocytes play a pivotal role in defense against MTB and with evidence suggesting depletion of T lymphocytes in COVID-19, it can be postulated that COVID-19 can increase the risk of reactivation of latent TB.  Given that a large population around the globe is infected with latent tuberculosis, it is interesting to study and note cases where the virus leads to the reactivation of latent tuberculosis infection. Herein, we present a 76-year-old Brazilian male recently treated for COVID-19 pneumonia, presenting with new-onset cough and weakness diagnosed with latent MTB reactivation.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.23417