Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Pre-Treatment Delays, Detection, and Clinical Characteristics of Tuberculosis Patients in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China.

Background: To contain the pandemic of COVID-19, China has implemented a series of public health interventions that impacted the tuberculosis control substantially, but these impacts may vary greatly depending on the severity of the local COVID-19 epidemic. The impact of COVID-19 on TB control in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is little known. Methods: Based on the national TB Information Management System (TBIMS), this study accessed the actual impact of COVID-19 on TB by comparing TB notifications, pre-treatment delays, and clinical characteristics of TB cases between 2020 COVID-19 period and 2017-2019 baseline. The data were divided into three periods based on the response started to fight against COVID-19 in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, including the control period (10 weeks before the pandemic), intensive period (10 weeks during the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region lockdown), and regular (10 additional weeks after Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region reopen). Results: TB notification dropped sharply in the first week of the intensive period but took significantly longer to return to the previous level in 2020 compared with the 2017-2019 baseline. Totally, the TB notification rates decreased by more than 60% in the intensive period of COVID-19 compared with the average level of 2017-2019. The sputum smear-positive rate of TB patients diagnosed in intensive period of COVID-19 was significantly higher than that in the corresponding periods of 2017-2019 (P < 0.001). The rate of cavity on X-ray inspection of TB cases diagnosed in the intensive period of COVID-19 was significantly higher than that in period 2 of 2017-2019 (23.5 vs. 15.4%, P = 0.004). The patients' delay in the intensive period was significantly longer than that before the pandemic (P = 0.047). Conclusions: The TB notification in Ningxia was impacted dramatically by the pandemic of COVID-19. To compensate for the large numbers of missed diagnosis as well as delayed diagnosis during the intensive period of COVID-19, an urgent restoration of normal TB services, and further emphasis on enhanced active case finding and scale-up of household contact tracing and screening for TB-related symptoms or manifestation, will be essential.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in pregnancy: 2 case reports on maternal and neonatal outcomes in Yichang city, Hubei Province, China.

RATIONALE: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 2019 has become a global pandemic. It is not known whether the disease is associated with a higher risk of infection in pregnant women or whether intrauterine vertical transmission can occur. We report 2 cases of pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19. PATIENT CONCERNS: In all of Yichang city from January 20, 2020, to April 9, 2020, only 2 pregnant women, who were in the late stage of pregnancy, were diagnosed with COVID-19; one patient was admitted for fever with limb asthenia, and the other patient was admitted for abnormal chest computed tomography results. DIAGNOSES: Both pregnant women were diagnosed with COVID-19. INTERVENTIONS: After the medical staff prepared for isolation and protection, the 2 pregnant women quickly underwent cesarean sections. A series of tests, such as laboratory, imaging, and SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid examinations, were performed on the 2 women with COVID-19 and their newborns. OUTCOMES: One of the 2 infected pregnant women had severe COVID-19, and the other had mild disease. Both babies were delivered by cesarean section. Both of the women with COVID-19 worsened 3 to 6 days after delivery. Chest computed tomography suggested that the lesions due to SARS-CoV-2 infection increased. These women began to exhibit fever or reduced blood oxygen saturation again. One of the 2 newborns was born prematurely, and the other was born at full term. Neither infant was infected with COVID-19, but both had increased prothrombin time and fibrinogen, lactate dehydrogenase, phosphocreatine kinase, and creatine kinase isoenzyme contents. LESSONS: SARS-CoV-2 infection was not found in the newborns born to the 2 pregnant women with COVID-19, but transient coagulation dysfunction and myocardial damage occurred in the 2 newborns. Effective management strategies for pregnant women with COVID-19 will help to control the outbreak of COVID-19 among pregnant women.

Coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnant women: a report based on 116 cases.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, is a global public health emergency. Data on the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnancy are limited to small case series. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes in pregnancy and the vertical transmission potential of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical records were retrospectively reviewed for 116 pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia from 25 hospitals in China between January 20, 2020, and March 24, 2020. Evidence of vertical transmission was assessed by testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in amniotic fluid, cord blood, and neonatal pharyngeal swab samples. RESULTS: The median gestational age on admission was 38+0 (interquartile range, 36+0-39+1) weeks. The most common symptoms were fever (50.9%, 59/116) and cough (28.4%, 33/116); 23.3% (27/116) patients presented without symptoms. Abnormal radiologic findings were found in 96.3% (104/108) of cases. Of the 116 cases, there were 8 cases (6.9%) of severe pneumonia but no maternal deaths. One of 8 patients who presented in the first trimester and early second trimester had a missed spontaneous abortion. Of 99 patients, 21 (21.2%) who delivered had preterm birth, including 6 with preterm premature rupture of membranes. The rate of spontaneous preterm birth before 37 weeks' gestation was 6.1% (6/99). One case of severe neonatal asphyxia resulted in neonatal death. Furthermore, 86 of the 100 neonates tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 had negative results; of these, paired amniotic fluid and cord blood samples from 10 neonates used to test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 had negative results. CONCLUSION: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection during pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion and spontaneous preterm birth. There is no evidence of vertical transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection when the infection manifests during the third trimester of pregnancy.