Impact of COVID-19 Coinfection on Management of Tuberculosis Patients Registered at DOTS Center in a Tertiary Care Hospital

ORIGINAL ARtIcLepoorly ventilated spaces, etc.) that increase their vulnerability to being chronically debilitated and malnourished. 7,10 history of active as well as latent TB is a significant risk factor for COVID-19 infection.These patients were more susceptible to COVID-19 infection, quick progression, development of severe disease, and poor outcome. 7,16The present study was conducted to evaluate the severity of COVID-19 in these patients and study the impact of COVID-19 on TB outcomes.In view of the advisory issued by the Government of India, it is important to differentiate these two diseases from each other. 6,7 IntroductIonAn outbreak of an influenza-like illness (ILI), COVID-19, caused by a virus named novel coronavirus in Wuhan, was declared by Chinese authorities in December 2019. 1 World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on 11 th March 2020 because of its rapid spread, morbidity, and mortality. 2The first case of COVID-19 in India was confirmed in the last week of January 2020 3 and since then has been causing havoc resulting in 4,24,773 deaths to date. 4 On 24 th March 2020, India declared a strict lockdown 5 and one of the consequences was an impact on NTEP. 6The new health crisis caused by the emergent COVID-19 severely impacted the diagnosis, surveillance, and management of TB, as the already overwhelmed healthcare facilities were mainly focusing on COVID-19.This resulted in the nonavailability of drugs and delay in the treatment of TB, and curtailment of its notification. 6,10This study was conducted to evaluate the magnitude of the impact of the pandemic on the management of TB as well as to inspect the profile of increase in morbidity in cases of coinfection of COVID-19 and TB.TB and COVID-19 affect the lungs largely and present with common symptoms like cough, fever, and dyspnoea.The severity, as well as mortality of the COVID-19 among patients with TB, is likely to be higher due to compromised lungs and other comorbidities or living conditions (diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus, smoking,