GUWAHATI: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) issued a guidance note on bi-directional TB-Covid screening and screening of TB among influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases.
COVID screening for all diagnosed TB patients and TB screening for all COVID positive patients should be conducted, said the Union Health Ministry on Thursday.
Both TB and Covid-19 primarily attack the lungs, and the prevalence of TB among Covid-19 patients has been found to be 0.37 - 4.47 percent in different studies, the ministry said adding that there has been an overall decline in TB notification by 26 percent during January to June 2020 as compared to the previous year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Tuberculosis is associated with a 2.1-fold increased risk of severe Covid-19 disease. In addition, TB patients also tend to have co-morbid or living conditions (malnutrition, diabetes, smoking, HIV etc) that increase their vulnerability.
Therefore, the Ministry has advised for all newly diagnosed TB patients or those currently on treatment should be tested for Covid-19. Based on its result, further management should be undertaken as per the MoHFW guidelines and the treatment of TB should continue uninterrupted.
Further, all Covid-19 cases should be screened for TB symptoms using the 4-symptom complex (Cough for over 2 weeks, persistent fever for over 2 weeks, significant weight loss, night sweats), history of contact with TB case, history of TB and those symptomatic should be offered chest X-ray and upfront Nuclear Acid Amplification Test (NAAT)- CBNAAT/TrueNat) for diagnosis of TB.
The ministry also advised that TB testing be conducted for ILI and SARI cases.