Abstract:
Background: Following COVID-19 pandemic, tuberculosis has become one of the killer
infectious diseases in the globe. During the era of COVID-19, the notification and treatment
outcomes of TB were negatively impacted. On other hand, measures taken to control COVID-19
pandemic creates such multidisciplinary disruptions in the management of TB. Early detection of
tuberculosis cases and ensuring successful treatment outcomes decreases the burden of TB.
Objective : To assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the management of TB during the
era of COVID-19 period.
Methods: A retrospective, comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 339 TB
patients who started TB treatment at Shashamanne comprehensive specialized hospital from
August 10, 2018 - October 10, 2021. The study was conducted among extrapulmonary,
presumptive and bacteriologically confirmed PTB patients who started anti-TB drugs during
the study period and who fulfilled inclusion criteria. The data was entered by Epi-Data version
4.6.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 25. Baseline difference of study variables between the two
periods was checked by chi square or fisher’s exact test.
Results: A total of 339 study participants were included in the study. Overall TB case reduction
was seen among new TB patients who were notified and started treatment during the era of
COVID-19 (n =153, 45.1%) compared to the pre- COVID-19 period (n=186, 54.9%). Residence
(p=0.014), types of TB (p=0.000), nutritional status (p=0.017), missed doses (p=0.013) and types
of laboratory test used (p=0.000) were associated with a baseline difference in TB notification
between the pre and era of COVID-19. The treatment outcomes between pre and era of COVID-
19 were not significantly different (p=0.058). However, unsuccessful treatment outcome was
slightly increased to 5 (3.3%) during the era of COVID-19.
Conclusion and Recommendation: The COVID-19 pandemic had negatively impacted the
notification of tuberculosis. Therefore, continues programmatic implementation in increasing
notification through active TB case finding in the community and ongoing follow up to decrease
missed doses among those started treatment should be needed
