Coinfection of tuberculosis and COVID-19 limits the ability to in vitro respond to SARS-CoV-2

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated in 2019, 10 million tuberculosis (TB) cases with 1.6 million deaths worldwide (WHO, 2020a). Lung is the most frequent TB localization, but any organ can be affected (Goletti et al., 2018). Since 2020, COronaVIrus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome –CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread globally with around 111 million cases reported (WHO, 2020b). There is evidence, that COVID-19 pandemic worsened TB epidemic globally due to TB-services fragmentation and additional pressures on health systems by COVID-19 resulting in weakening of the National TB programs (Migliori et al., 2020).

Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases - March 10, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Linda Petrone, Elisa Petruccioli, Valentina Vanini, Gilda Cuzzi, Gina Gualano, Pietro Vittozzi, Emanuele Nicastri, Gaetano Maffongelli, Alba Grifoni, Alessandro Sette, Giuseppe Ippolito, Giovanni Battista Migliori, Fabrizio Palmieri, Delia Goletti Source Type: research