Confirmed COVID-19 in a Patient with Pre-Existing Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Case Report (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Co-infection with COVID-19 and TB frequently results in fever, coughing, hypotension, a changed blood cell count, raised liver enzymes, and decreased hemoglobin. On May 19, 2022, a retired black African woman in her 59s arrived at the emergency room with a tuberculosis diagnosis. She had no recent travel history and was COVID-19-infected. Five days prior to her admission, her sons, who worked in the medical field, were found to be infected with the COVID-19 infection. The patient arrived at the emergency room with weak muscles, a fever, a productive cough, a sore throat, a lack of appetite, a headache, night sweats, and shortness of breath that had lasted for a day. On chest auscultation, there were reduced breath sounds in the right middle and upper lungs. A Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection without rifampicin resistance was detected in a sputum sample using the GeneXpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin tests. After 36 hours, a throat swab polymerase chain reaction test produced positive findings, confirming the presence of the COVID-19 infection. The patient required continuous oxygen at a rate of four liters per minute via a nasal cannula for the first five days while in the hospital, and she is still taking her anti-tubercular medications. In order to combat hospital-acquired infections, she was given therapy with broad-spectrum antibiotics consisting of 500 mg of azithromycin given once a day for five days and 1 g of intravenous ceftriaxone administered daily for five days.