Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 and Pulmonary Tuberculosis Coinfection: Double Trouble

Abstract The ongoing pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has received worldwide attention by becoming a major global health threat. We encountered one case of COVID-19 and pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) coinfection which has not been frequently reported. A 76 year old female presented with acute respiratory symptoms superimposed on chronic symptoms, suggestive to have pneumonia. Oropharyngeal throat swab sample for COVID-19 was positive as detected by real-time reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay. GeneXpert Ultra detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex with Rifampicin resistance indeterminate. Patient was conservatively treated with appropriate management. Clinicians should suspect COVID-19 coinfection with pulmonary TB while treating during ongoing pandemic as therapeutic strategies need to be determined accordingly to improve outcome and prevent transmission in community.