CHENNAI: No significant difference in symptoms or cure is found between people infected with both Covid-19 and tuberculosis (TB) and people with only TB, found a study conducted by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. The study also observed a lower incidence of Covid-19 in regions with high rates of TB infections and widespread Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine coverage.
As per the study recently published in the special edition on tuberculosis in the local journal, Tamil Nadu Journal of Public Health and Medical Research, the Covid-19 symptoms closely resemble those of TB and both diseases primarily affect the respiratory tract and are transmitted through aerosol droplets from an infected person to a healthy individual.
The researchers collected 384 TB-positive sputum samples from 2021 February to April stored at the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR-NIRT), Chennai. Of 384 patients, 88 were women and 296 were men. Of the 384 bacteriologically confirmed TB cases 22 of them tested positive for SARS-CoV2. The study compared the treatment outcomes for both co-infected and only TB groups along with a comparison of their baseline characteristics.
Among the limited cases of TB-Covid-19 co-infection, no significant differences are observed between the two groups in treatment outcomes or clinical characteristics. This finding encourages additional exploration into the pathogenesis, and immune response of Covid-19, the authors observed.
“With the BCG vaccination program in place to tackle the high rate of TB cases in the country, more studies are required to validate the effect of Covid-19 infection in confirmed TB cases,” they added.
Commenting on the study, an epidemiologist said, “More structured and planned study with focussed objectives is needed to understand the association between these two diseases that have some similarities in risk factors, primary organ affected and mortality.”