COVID-19 pandemic increased deaths and disease caused by tuberculosis Pandemic Tuberculosis Coronavirus Disease COVID WHO
By Suchandrima BhowmikOct 31 2022Reviewed by Aimee Molineux Approximately 10 million people fall ill with tuberculosis each year. Even though TB is preventable and curable, over 1.5 million people die from it every year. The bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis cause TB. TB primarily affects the lungs and can spread from an infected person who expels the bacteria into the air. Most people infected with TB are adults, with men being most affected , followed by women and children .
Along with many healthcare services, TB services have also suffered disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in severe consequences. Moreover, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe have further worsened the situation for vulnerable populations. This resulted in the reduction of people diagnosed with TB and an increase in the number of people untreated with TB. The number of people diagnosed with TB was observed to fall from 7.1 million in 2019 to 5.
Most of the funding used in 2021 came from domestic sources. However, in middle and low-income countries, international funding remains essential. The main source of global funds is the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria which the United States Government is the largest contributor.
"The report provides important new evidence and makes a strong case for the need to join forces and urgently redouble efforts to get the TB response back on track to reach TB targets and save lives. It will be an essential resource for countries, partners and civil society in the lead up to the second UN high-level meeting on TB to be held in 2023.
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Different epidemiology of bloodstream infections in COVID-19 compared to non-COVID-19 critically ill patients: a descriptive analysis of the Eurobact II study - Critical CareBackground The study aimed to describe the epidemiology and outcomes of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections (HABSIs) between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 critically ill patients. Methods We used data from the Eurobact II study, a prospective observational multicontinental cohort study on HABSI treated in ICU. For the current analysis, we selected centers that included both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 critically ill patients. We performed descriptive statistics between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 in terms of patients’ characteristics, source of infection and microorganism distribution. We studied the association between COVID-19 status and mortality using multivariable fragility Cox models. Results A total of 53 centers from 19 countries over the 5 continents were eligible. Overall, 829 patients (median age 65 years [IQR 55; 74]; male, n = 538 [64.9%]) were treated for a HABSI. Included patients comprised 252 (30.4%) COVID-19 and 577 (69.6%) non-COVID-19 patients. The time interval between hospital admission and HABSI was similar between both groups. Respiratory sources (40.1 vs. 26.0%, p | 0.0001) and primary HABSI (25.4% vs. 17.2%, p = 0.006) were more frequent in COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 patients had more often enterococcal (20.5% vs. 9%) and Acinetobacter spp. (18.8% vs. 13.6%) HABSIs. Bacteremic COVID-19 patients had an increased mortality hazard ratio (HR) versus non-COVID-19 patients (HR 1.91, 95% CI 1.49–2.45). Conclusions We showed that the epidemiology of HABSI differed between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. Enterococcal HABSI predominated in COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 patients with HABSI had elevated risk of mortality. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.org number NCT03937245 . Registered 3 May 2019.
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Health-related quality of life among persons with initial mild, moderate, and severe or critical COVID-19 at 1 and 12 months after infection: a prospective cohort study - BMC MedicineBackground Currently, there is limited evidence about the long-term impact on physical, social and emotional functioning, i.e. health-related quality of life (HRQL) after mild or moderate COVID-19 not requiring hospitalization. We compared HRQL among persons with initial mild, moderate or severe/critical COVID-19 at 1 and 12 months following illness onset with Dutch population norms and investigated the impact of restrictive public health control measures on HRQL. Methods RECoVERED, a prospective cohort study in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, enrolled adult participants after confirmed SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. HRQL was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-item health survey (SF-36). SF-36 scores were converted to standard scores based on an age- and sex-matched representative reference sample of the Dutch population. Differences in HRQL over time were compared among persons with initial mild, moderate or severe/critical COVID-19 using mixed linear models adjusted for potential confounders. Results By December 2021, 349 persons were enrolled of whom 269 completed at least one SF-36 form (77%). One month after illness onset, HRQL was significantly below population norms on all SF-36 domains except general health and bodily pain among persons with mild COVID-19. After 12 months, persons with mild COVID-19 had HRQL within population norms, whereas persons with moderate or severe/critical COVID-19 had HRQL below population norms on more than half of the SF-36 domains. Dutch-origin participants had significantly better HRQL than participants with a migration background. Participants with three or more COVID-19 high-risk comorbidities had worse HRQL than part participants with fewer comorbidities. Participants who completed the SF-36 when restrictive public health control measures applied reported less limitations in social and physical functioning and less impaired mental health than participants who completed the SF-36 when no restrictive measures applied. Co
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Covid-19: Nearly 5,000 Covid-related deaths registered, inquiry toldGroup calls for Covid-19 public inquiry to consider why Ireland was not considered single land mass during pandemic response Covid19
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Frontiers | SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody trajectories in mothers and infants over two months following maternal infectionInfants exposed to caregivers infected with SARS-CoV-2 may have heightened infection risks relative to older children due to their more intensive care and feeding needs, and may experience more severe infection due to their less developed immune systems. However, there has been limited research on COVID-19 outcomes in exposed infants beyond the neonatal period. Between June 2020 – March 2021, we conducted interviews and collected capillary dried blood from SARS-CoV-2 infected mothers and their infants (aged 1-36 months) for up to two months following maternal infection onset (COVID+ group, 87% breastfeeding, n dyads=46 dyads). Comparative data were also collected from breastfeeding mothers with no known SARS-CoV-2 infection or exposures (breastfeeding control group, n dyads=26), and mothers who tested SARS-CoV-2 negative after experiencing symptoms or close contact exposure (COVID- group, n dyads=11, 73% breastfeeding). Dried blood samples were assayed for anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG and IgA positivity and anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 + S2 IgG concentrations. Within the COVID+ group, the mean probability of seropositivity among infant samples was significantly lower than that of corresponding maternal samples (IgG 0.54 vs. 0.87; IgA 0.33 vs. 0.85), with likelihood of infant infection positively associated with the number of maternal symptoms and other household infections reported. COVID+ mothers reported a lower incidence of COVID-19 symptoms among their infants as compared to themselves and other household adults, and infants had similar PCR positivity rates as other household children. No samples returned by COVID- mothers or their infants tested antibody positive. Among the breastfeeding control group, 44% of mothers but none of their infants tested antibody positive in at least one sample. Results support previous research demonstrating minimal risks to infants following maternal COVID-19 infection, including for breastfeeding infants.
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How COVID-19 impacted sleep and mental health among university studentsIn a recent study published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers evaluated the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the sleep quality and mental health (MH) of university-attending undergraduate students.
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The long-term impact of COVID-19 severity on health-related quality of lifeA recent study conducted on the residents of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, describes that people with mild COVID-19 experience better health-related quality of life after one year of disease onset than those with moderate or severe COVID-19.
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