Papers of the Week

Background Data on COVID-19 patients who have pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is limited. In this study we compare the clinical characteristics of COVID-19/TB and COVID-19 only patients and analyze the links between the severity of COVID-19 disease and clinical characteristics of COVID-19/TB patients. Methods Retrospective, anonymized, cross-sectional study of 111 patients who met inclusion criteria for analysis (75 COVID-19/TB and 36 COVID-19 patients) was conducted. Results Patients in both groups (COVID-19/TB vs COVID-19) mainly suffered from fever (72.0% vs 100%, p < 0.001), fatigue (76.0% vs 94.4%, p = 0.018), chest pain (72.0% vs 36.1%, p < 0.001), followed by cough (60.0% vs 97.2%, p < 0.001) and dyspnea (44.0% vs 63.9%, p = 0.05). In group COVID-19/TB the most frequently reported comorbidities were chronic liver disease (17 [22.7%]), cardiovascular diseases (25 [33.3%]), and diseases of the nervous system (13 [17.3%]). Female gender, fever, dyspnea, pulmonary bilateral TB lesion, and 3 or more comorbidities have a statistic significant positive effect on severity of the disease among COVID-19/TB patients. Conclusion It is important to perform rapid molecular testing and CT to correctly distinguish COVID-19 and TB due to similar clinical characteristics of both diseases. Bilateral pulmonary TB lesion and comorbidity should be considered as risk factors for severe COVID-19.