1. INTRODUCTION
The first case of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was reported in
December of 2019 in Wuhan, China 1,2. According to the
world health organization (WHO), since the outbreak of COVID-19 until
December 6th, 2020, the pandemic has affected 66.6 million people
worldwide and has claimed 1.3 million victims. The first cases of the
novel coronavirus from 19th to 23rd of February 2020, was reported to be
43 infections and 8 deaths 3. As numerous
retrospective studies state, pandemics of respiratory diseases like
Influenza are among the most important causes of mortality and their
association with mortality rates of tuberculosis patients have been
studied 4-6. Co-infections of tuberculosis with other
coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-1 in 2003 and MERS-CoV in 2012 are
documented 7-9.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that targets the lungs. Its
symptoms include respiratory problems and lung involvement which are
similar to symptoms of the COVID-19 infection therefore it’s a big
concern during the pandemic. It is estimated that 1.7 billion people are
infected by tuberculosis worldwide and according to WHO, 10 million
people got infected by tuberculosis in 2019 thus tuberculosis infection
is among the 10 leading causes of mortality in the world10. Tuberculosis patients are at high risk for
COVID-19 infection since their symptoms are diagnosed and reported
later. Hence, evaluation and screening of tuberculosis patients are
important for their quick diagnosis and treatment. This study was
conducted in tuberculosis center of Abadan, Iran to investigate
SARS-CoV-2 in tuberculosis patients for a timely diagnosis of the
co-infection and its treatment.