Who is at risk for TB?
It is estimated that up to 10% of people infected with M. tuberculosis will develop active TB in their lifetime. About one-quarter of the world’s population has a TB infection. The vast majority have no signs or symptoms of TB disease and are not infectious, although they are at risk of developing active TB disease and becoming infectious.
The COVID-19 pandemic is negatively impacting TB testing services
International efforts have succeeded in slowing the COVID-19 pandemic, but responding to COVID-19 has also forced disruption of TB control programs around the globe. Such disruption has reversed a decade of progress against TB, with a recent report released by Stop TB suggesting the potential for an additional 1.4 million tuberculosis deaths by 2025, due to COVID-19-related disruption to TB prevention services (2).
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References:
- World Health Organization. (2020) WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis: tuberculosis preventive treatment. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331170/9789240001503-eng.pdf
- Stop TB Partnership in collaboration with Imperial College, Avenir Health, Johns Hopkins University and USAID. The potential impact of the COVID-19 response on tuberculosis in high-burden countries: a modeling analysis.