The Impact of COVID-19 on the Tuberculosis Features in a Romanian Pneumology Hospital

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of Hospitalized Patients with TB Only Vs COVID-19 Co-Infection

		All	TB+COV+	TB+COV-	OR	CI 0.95	Χ^2
Gender	Female	19	6	13	0.378	0.132;1.084	0.070
	Male	71	39	32
Living area	Urban	34	15	19	0.684	0.290;1.609	0.384
	Rural	56	30	26
Education*	Low	42	29	13	4.461	1.874;10.617	<0.001
	Medium/High	48	16	32
Employment	Employed	39	22	17	3.364 0.320	1.032;10.968 0.095;1.079	0.044 0.066
	Non-employed	18	5	13
	Retired	33	18	15
Smoking	Yes	64	33	31	1.241	0.498;3.094	0.641
	No	26	12	14
Alcohol use	Yes	67	33	30	2.312	0.875;6.108	0.090
	No	23	8	15
Underweight (<20 kg/m^2)	Yes	21	7	14	0.407	0.147;1.117	0.081
	No	69	38	31
Overweight (≥26 kg/m^2)	Yes	12	9	3	3.5	0.935;13.098	0.0628
	No	78	36	42

Notes: *Low education: less than 8 years; Medium/High education: over 8 years.

Figure 1 The frequency of TB related chronic co-morbidities.

Abbreviations: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; HTN, hypertension; HCDs, heart chronic diseases; NCDs, neurological chronic disease; CTD, connective tissue disease; CLD, chronic liver disease.

Figure 2 Frequency of Symptoms on patients with TB+ COV- comparative with TB+COV+.

Table 2 Classification Criteria of in TB Only in Comparison with TB-COVID-19 Co-Infection

		N-All	%	n1 TB+COV+	n2 TB+COV-	p	CI
Evolution	First presentation	63	70%	28	35	0.107	−0.344;0.033
	Recurrence	27	30%	17	10	0.107	−0.033;0.344
Microscopy	Positive AFB	82		40	42	0.458	−0.074;0.163
Radiologic features	Cavitary	43	47.77	21	22	0.996	−0.212;0.211
	Caseous	36	40	15	21	0.223	−0.336;0.079
	Ulcerate	24	26.66	12	12	0.947	−0.184;0.196
	Infiltrative	19	21.11	10	9	0.710	−0.207;0.141
	Fibrous	33		15	18	0.562	−0.146;0.266
	Nodular	39		20	19	0.685	−0.253;0.167
	Pleural/Extrapulmonary	7		6	1	0.049	0.021;0.992
Localization of the lesions	Bilateral	61	67.7	37	24	0.003	0.105;0.475
	Right	15		6	9	0.396	−0.222;0.088
	Left	12		1	11	0.001	−0.358;-0.086
	Miliaria	2		1	1	1	−0.061;0.617

Abbreviations: N-All, number of all patients; n1 TB+COV+, number of patients with co-infection COVID-19 and Tuberculosis; n2 TB+COV-, number of patients with tuberculosis only; CI, 95% confidence interval; AFB, acid fast bacteria.

Table 3 Comparative Features of Biological Data and Radiologic Scores in TB Only and TB-COVID-19 Co-Infection

	NRV	Average ±SD		Median		2t-test	CI 0.95
		COV+	COV-	COV+	COV-
Leucocytes *10^3/mm^3	4.5–11	13,270±8947	12,300±922	11,400	11,400	0.504	−1.920;3.860
NLR	<3	7.648±8.346	5.468±4.502	4.764	4.229	0.127	−0.641;5.002
CRP [mg/L]	<3	14.448±21.208	8.611±5.63	7	6.7	0.080	−0.732;12.408
ESR [mm/h]	0–22	62.71±31.430	73.2±32.460	55	65	0.123	−23.877;2.898
Creatinine [mg/dL]	0.7–1.3	1.295±1.924	0.678±0.172	0.77	0.66	0.037	0.036;1.197
ALT [U/L]	7–55	72.71±86.69	33.77±27.93	38	22	0.005	11.700;66.166
AST [U/L]	8–48	66.711±73.621	47.667	43	30	0.126	−5.520;43.609
BRIXIA Score-B	0	9.288±3.307	7.688±2.556	9	8	0.012	0.360;2.839
BRIXIA Score C	0	7.266±3.326	3.911±2.172	7	3	<0.001	2.175;4.535

Abbreviations: NRV, Normal Reference Values; N/Ly, Neutrophils/Lymphocytes Ratio; CRP, C-Reactive Protein; ESR, Erythrocytes Sedimentation Rate; ALT, Alanine-amino transferase; AST, Aspartate amino transferase; BRIXIA Score -B, Severity Radiologic Score baseline; BRIXIA Score -C, Severity Radiologic Score Control (on hospital discharge).

Figure 3 Comparative Complications in Patients Hospitalized with Co-infection TB-COVID-19 and TB only.

Abbreviations: PL-PN, pleuropneumonia; AKF, acute kidney failure; CDD, Clostridioides difficile diarrhea.