Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis national reference laboratory services in the WHO European Region, March to November 2020

We assessed the impact of COVID-19 on diagnostic services for tuberculosis (TB) by national reference laboratories in the WHO European Region. Of 35 laboratories, 30 reported declines in TB sample numbers, amounting up to > 50% of the pre-COVID-19 volumes. Sixteen reported reagent or consumable shortages. Nineteen reallocated ressources to SARS-CoV-2 testing, resulting in an overall increase in workload, largely without a concomitant increase in personnel (n = 14). This poses a risk to meeting the 2025 milestones of the End TB Strategy.

Source: Eurosurveillance - June 17, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Florian P Maurer, Natalia Shubladze, Gulmira Kalmambetova, Irina Felker, Giorgi Kuchukhidze, Francis Drobniewski, Askar Yedilbayev, Soudeh Ehsani and The European Laboratory Initiative on TB, HIV and Viral Hepatitis Source Type: research