5. DISCUSSION
COVID-19 causes severe diseases that mainly target the respiratory
system. This epidemic has affected many countries around the world and
respiratory transmission among people has made it a huge threat to human
health 14. The main clinical symptoms of COVID-19 are
similar to the other disease that involve the respiratory system so
prompt and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19 is essential to quarantine and
treat the patients.
In this study, the first series of patients study in Iran, we aimed to
investigate SARS-CoV-2 in tuberculosis patients (pulmonary and
extrapulmonary) to detect the virus, quarantine, and treat the patients.
Limited information is available on if tuberculosis patients whether
active, latent, or those who have recovered are at higher risk of
COVID-19 consequences 15. However, one study has shown
that the long-term effect of COVID-19 may activate latent tuberculosis16.
According to a recent study, COVID-19 infection can be observed before,
during, and after tuberculosis infection (both pulmonary and
extrapulmonary) and the mortality rate of tuberculosis is higher in
patients with advanced age. In the same study, HIV co-infection was
reported in some patients 17. Following an inquiry
conducted on 24 patients with active tuberculosis in Italy to
investigate COVID-19, 20 patients with TB- COVID-19 co-infection were
observed. The average age of these 20 patients was 39 years old, 60% of
them were men and their BMI was reportedly lower than 18.5
kg/cm2. 8 out of 20 patients with TB- COVID-19
co-infection had underlying conditions but HIV infection was not present
in any of them 18.
One Chinese research into this subject reported that patients with
tuberculosis infections (active or latent) are more susceptible to
COVID-19 infections due to rapid spread and severe involvement19.