TITLE:
The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Detection of Tuberculosis in Armenia
AUTHORS:
Naira Khachatryan, Hakob Atshemyan, Artak Manukyan, Anush Khachatryan, Karen Poghosyan
KEYWORDS:
Tuberculosis, Covid-19 Pandemic, Detection of Tuberculosis
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Tuberculosis Research,
Vol.10 No.4,
December
6,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background: One of the vulnerable components of Tuberculosis
Care Programs affected by the Covid-19 pandemic was the detection of
tuberculosis (TB). Based on this conviction, a study devoted to the impact of
the Covid-19 pandemic on the detection and diagnosis of tuberculosis was
conducted in Armenia. Methods: This observational study has a retrospective descriptive research design based
on the comparative calculation of the TB incidence rate for the historical
pre-pandemic period (01-Mar-2019 to 29-Feb-2020) and during the Covid-19
pandemic period (01-Mar-2020 to 28-Feb-2021). Results: The data evaluation revealed that the number of
active TB cases detected during the Covid-19 pandemic was lower by 37.6%
compared with the pre-pandemic period (416 vs. 667). The significant reduction
of the bacteriologically confirmed cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (28% drop)
was most likely related to the decrease in the
sputum diagnostic tests, as the number of patients who were tested by sputum
microscopy during the pandemic was lower by 43.3% compared with the pre-pandemic
period (2329 vs. 4110) and the number of patients tested by sputum GeneXpert
test dropped by 23% during the Covid-19 pandemic (2291 vs. 2977). Conclusion: The comparative
calculation of TB detection rate changes during the Covid-19 pandemic revealed a significant decrease in TB detection compared with the pre-pandemic period. The probable reasons for this decrease were the restrictions on visits
to medical centers, limited access to diagnostic services, and undermined screening and contact tracing activities.