Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Tuberculosis Preventive Services and Their Post-Pandemic Recovery Strategies: A Rapid Review of Literature.
J Korean Med Sci
; 38(5): e43, 2023 Feb 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2231437
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted tuberculosis (TB) care and prevention around the world. The aim of this study is to review literature on the impact of COVID-19 on TB preventive services and discuss their policy options during and after the pandemic.METHODS:
We conducted a rapid review of scientific literature on the impact of COVID-19 on TB preventive services and their recovery strategies. After conducting a line-by-line open coding, their codes were applied in the descriptive theme building process, which was guided by the End TB strategy. TB preventive measures were selected and classified into five analytical categories 1) vaccination against TB, 2) detection and treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI), 3) screening and diagnostics, 4) active case finding and contact tracing, and 5) surveillance.RESULTS:
We identified 93 articles, of which 65 were research articles. During the pandemic, we observed decrease in Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) coverage, TB diagnostic services, case finding activities, and LTBI management. TB case detection was declined, which was not resumed to the pre-pandemic level after loosening the lock-down. Several recommendations were highlighted 1) secure BCG stocks and its supply chains, 2) consider catch-up activities of routine immunization and LTBI screening, 3) maintain minimal TB health services, infection prevention and control, and surveillance, 4) leverage laboratory capacity and contact tracing mechanisms, 5) consider simultaneous testing for TB and COVID-19, and 6) Incorporate digital health technologies.CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings and lessons learnt from the pandemic can aid in the development of future national TB control program.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tuberculosis
/
Latent Tuberculosis
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Reviews
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Korean Med Sci
Journal subject:
Medicine
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
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