Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis control: an overview

Kefyalew Addis Alene*, Kinley Wangdi, Archie C.A. Clements

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

100 Citations (Scopus)
2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Throughout history, pandemics of viral infections such as HIV, Ebola and Influenza have disrupted health care systems, including the prevention and control of endemic diseases. Such disruption has resulted in an increased burden of endemic diseases in post-pandemic periods. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could cause severe dysfunction in the prevention and control of tuberculosis (TB), the infectious disease that causes more deaths than any other, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where the burden of TB is high. The economic and health crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the public health measures currently taken to stop the spread of the virus may have an impact on household TB transmission, treatment and diagnostic services, and TB prevention and control programs. Here, we provide an overview of the potential impact of COVID-19 on TB programs and disease burden, as well as possible strategies that could help to mitigate the impact.

Original languageEnglish
Article number123
Number of pages8
JournalTropical medicine and infectious disease
Volume5
Issue number3
Early online date24 Jul 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors.

Keywords

  • Control
  • COVID-19
  • Endemic
  • Impact
  • Overview
  • Pandemic
  • Tuberculosis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Immunology and Microbiology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Infectious Diseases

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