Fighting Tuberculosis in Africa: The Current Situation Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
; : 1-3, 2022 Jun 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1878450
ABSTRACT
Globally, tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading infectious causes of mortality, with around 4000 deaths daily. Since the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Africa, the region has experienced a lapse in responses directed at TB control, because the priority has shifted to interventions aimed at managing COVID-19. In addition to an unprecedented burden on the region's already overburdened health systems, another major public health concern is the clinical similarities between COVID-19 and TB, making TB diagnosis increasingly challenging, which may lead to poor prognosis, especially in people with TB and COVID-19 co-infection. A likely implication is that TB patients may stop attending health-care facilities due to fear of contracting or being diagnosed with COVID-19 or to avoid being stigmatized, invariably resulting in a disruption in their access to health-care services. Therefore, massive global support should be provided for TB endemic countries to respond synergistically and strongly to the thousands of TB cases as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Journal:
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Dmp.2022.142
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