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.