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Prevalence of tuberculosis/COVID-19 co-infection and factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in pulmonary tuberculosis patients at a respiratory diseases center: a cross-sectional study


Laurent-Mireille Endale Mangamba
Christiane Ingrid Medi Sike
Joël Noutakdie Tochie
Grace Ngondi Dalle
Nadia Nkouagmi
Adamou Dodo Balkissou
Bernard Eyoum Bille
Bertrand Hugo Mbatchou Ngahane
Carole Else Eboumbou Moukoko

Abstract

Introduction: currently, tuberculosis (TB) is the second cause of infectious disease-related deaths before COVID-19. These two infections have several similarities but little data is available on TB/COVID-19 co-infection, hence, we sought to investigate the prevalence of this co-infection and the factors associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS -CoV-2) infection in tuberculosis patients in a tuberculosis-endemic area.


Methods: we conducted a prospective cross-sectional study from January to June 2022 at Respiratory Diseases Center in Douala, Cameroon by enrolling all consenting pulmonary tuberculosis patients. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA) and gamma-interferon levels were laboratory analyzed using the Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique, respectively. The factors associated with COVID-19 carriage in pulmonary tuberculosis patients were analyzed by logistic regressions.


Results: overall, we enrolled 185 patients; 57.8% were males (sex ratio of 1.36) and their mean age was 43.70 ± 17.89 years. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in pulmonary TB patients was 24.3%. Asthma and sore throat were the factors favoring carriage (OR=3.74; 95% CI=1.271-11.017; p=0.017 and OR=4.05; 95%CI=1.204-13.600; p=0.024) and cough was a protective factor (OR=0.15; 95% CI = 0.034-0.690; p=0.015).


Conclusion: the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 carriage in tuberculosis patients is high and greater than the national prevalence. Asthma and sore throat would be associated factors.


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eISSN: 1937-8688