The aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of TB at a tertiary care hospital in India

Background: The recent COVID-19 pandemic became a looming catastrophe over global public health and severely disrupted essential healthcare services like tuberculosis (TB). This study estimated the impact of the COVID-19 in the diagnosis of TB, a microbiology laboratory-based overview. Method: This...

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Main Authors: Druti Hazra, Kiran Chawla, Vishnu P. Shenoy, Akhilesh K. Pandey, Nayana S
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-08-01
Series:Journal of Infection and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187603412100188X
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spelling doaj-00d0039220b4495b94949e29b19ef5f32021-07-31T04:38:12ZengElsevierJournal of Infection and Public Health1876-03412021-08-0114810951098The aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of TB at a tertiary care hospital in IndiaDruti Hazra0Kiran Chawla1Vishnu P. Shenoy2Akhilesh K. Pandey3Nayana S4Department of Microbiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, IndiaDepartment of Microbiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India; Corresponding authors.Department of Microbiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India; Corresponding authors.Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, IndiaDepartment of Microbiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, IndiaBackground: The recent COVID-19 pandemic became a looming catastrophe over global public health and severely disrupted essential healthcare services like tuberculosis (TB). This study estimated the impact of the COVID-19 in the diagnosis of TB, a microbiology laboratory-based overview. Method: This ambispective observational study was conducted at the Department of Microbiology in a tertiary care hospital in South Karnataka from January 2019 to December 2020. A standardized data collection sheet was prepared to collect the month-wise total number of suspected TB and confirmed TB samples. Data were analyzed using EZR 3.4.3 (R, open-source). Categorical variables were expressed in frequency and percentage. The Chi-square test was performed to test the difference in proportions and p < 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results: In this study, a significant drop was observed in suspected TB specimens in 2020 compared to 2019, i.e. 54.8% for microscopy, along with 34.2% and 49.7% for Xpert MTB/RIF and MGIT culture respectively. Also, a sharp decline in confirmed TB samples was noted in 2020 with 49%, 43.8%, and 59.7% reduction with microscopy, Xpert MTB/RIF, and MGIT culture respectively, compared to 2019. Another major finding from this study reveals the PTB: EPTB proportion changed from 2.7:1 in 2019 to 2.1:1 in 2020, divulging an overall increase in EPTB sample proportion in 2020 (p = 0.0385). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted the TB diagnostic services, resulting in a significant reduction of active TB case detection. It highlights an urgent need to revise the strategies to control and eliminate TB in this hour of the pandemic crisis.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187603412100188XCOVID-19TB diagnosticsEnd TBImpactPulmonary tuberculosisExtra-pulmonary tuberculosis
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Druti Hazra
Kiran Chawla
Vishnu P. Shenoy
Akhilesh K. Pandey
Nayana S
spellingShingle Druti Hazra
Kiran Chawla
Vishnu P. Shenoy
Akhilesh K. Pandey
Nayana S
The aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of TB at a tertiary care hospital in India
Journal of Infection and Public Health
COVID-19
TB diagnostics
End TB
Impact
Pulmonary tuberculosis
Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis
author_facet Druti Hazra
Kiran Chawla
Vishnu P. Shenoy
Akhilesh K. Pandey
Nayana S
author_sort Druti Hazra
title The aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of TB at a tertiary care hospital in India
title_short The aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of TB at a tertiary care hospital in India
title_full The aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of TB at a tertiary care hospital in India
title_fullStr The aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of TB at a tertiary care hospital in India
title_full_unstemmed The aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of TB at a tertiary care hospital in India
title_sort aftermath of covid-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of tb at a tertiary care hospital in india
publisher Elsevier
series Journal of Infection and Public Health
issn 1876-0341
publishDate 2021-08-01
description Background: The recent COVID-19 pandemic became a looming catastrophe over global public health and severely disrupted essential healthcare services like tuberculosis (TB). This study estimated the impact of the COVID-19 in the diagnosis of TB, a microbiology laboratory-based overview. Method: This ambispective observational study was conducted at the Department of Microbiology in a tertiary care hospital in South Karnataka from January 2019 to December 2020. A standardized data collection sheet was prepared to collect the month-wise total number of suspected TB and confirmed TB samples. Data were analyzed using EZR 3.4.3 (R, open-source). Categorical variables were expressed in frequency and percentage. The Chi-square test was performed to test the difference in proportions and p < 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results: In this study, a significant drop was observed in suspected TB specimens in 2020 compared to 2019, i.e. 54.8% for microscopy, along with 34.2% and 49.7% for Xpert MTB/RIF and MGIT culture respectively. Also, a sharp decline in confirmed TB samples was noted in 2020 with 49%, 43.8%, and 59.7% reduction with microscopy, Xpert MTB/RIF, and MGIT culture respectively, compared to 2019. Another major finding from this study reveals the PTB: EPTB proportion changed from 2.7:1 in 2019 to 2.1:1 in 2020, divulging an overall increase in EPTB sample proportion in 2020 (p = 0.0385). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted the TB diagnostic services, resulting in a significant reduction of active TB case detection. It highlights an urgent need to revise the strategies to control and eliminate TB in this hour of the pandemic crisis.
topic COVID-19
TB diagnostics
End TB
Impact
Pulmonary tuberculosis
Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187603412100188X
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