Soko, R.N., Burke, R.M., Feasey, H.R.A. et al. (11 more authors) (2021) Effects of Coronavirus disease pandemic on tuberculosis notifications, Malawi. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 27 (7). pp. 1831-1839. ISSN 1080-6040
Abstract
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic might affect tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and patient care. We analyzed a citywide electronic TB register in Blantyre, Malawi and interviewed TB officers. Malawi did not have an official COVID-19 lockdown but closed schools and borders on March 23, 2020. In an interrupted time series analysis, we noted an immediate 35.9% reduction in TB notifications in April 2020; notifications recovered to near prepandemic numbers by December 2020. However, 333 fewer cumulative TB notifications were received than anticipated. Women and girls were affected more (30.7% fewer cases) than men and boys (20.9% fewer cases). Fear of COVID-19 infection, temporary facility closures, inadequate personal protective equipment, and COVID-19 stigma because of similar symptoms to TB were mentioned as reasons for fewer people being diagnosed with TB. Public health measures could benefit control of both TB and COVID-19, but only if TB diagnostic services remain accessible and are considered safe to attend.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | COVID-19; SARS; SARS-CoV-2; bacteria; coronavirus; coronavirus disease; disease surveillance; health systems; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; tuberculosis; viruses; zoonoses; COVID-19; Communicable Disease Control; Female; Humans; Malawi; Male; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2; Tuberculosis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL MR/P022081/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 19 Jul 2021 15:53 |
Last Modified: | 19 Jul 2021 15:59 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3201/eid2707.210557 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:176306 |