Title : A Case Series of Tuberculosis in Confirmed COVID-19 Patients
Abstract:
The high prevalence of Tuberculosis (TB) worldwide and increasing burden of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is both a major health concern. Both are infectious respiratory diseases with common clinical signs and symptoms. However, limited studies have been reported on the concurrence of these two disease entities and their impact on the clinical course among pediatric patients.
In this case series, eight (8) children diagnosed with tuberculosis, either pulmonary, extra pulmonary, or both, have been co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus. The age of the patients ranges from 7 months-18 years old and all were males. Body mass index (BMI) of the patients showed z-scores below <2. All patients had an unknown exposure to COVID-19 and three (3) had a history of pulmonary tuberculosis exposure. Five (5) patients presented with fever and cough, both common symptoms of COVID-19 and TB. TB diagnosis was based mainly on Xpert MTB/RIF, chest radiography (CXR) and computed tomography CT scan. On the other hand, COVID-19 diagnosis was based on the results of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal swabs. All patients have a common finding of pneumonia in their chest x-rays. 5 out of 6 patients showed pulmonary tuberculosis in Chest CT scan. All children were treated with antibiotics and anti-tuberculosis drugs. 7 out of 8 patients were discharged improved.
This case series presents the demography, signs and symptoms, clinical course and treatment outcome of confirmed COVID-19 pediatric patients with tuberculosis co-infection admitted in a COVID-19 Referral Center from April 2020 to January 2021.
