scholarly journals Influence of Malaria Endemicity and Tuberculosis Prevalence on COVID-19 Mortality

Public Health ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tareef Fadhil Raham
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tareef Fadhil Raham

Abstract Background: Both malaria and latent tuberculosis ( LTB) are possible factors related to decreased COVID-19 mortality. The malaria endemicity variable is a possible confounder when conducting a study on the correlation of LTB prevalence to COVID-19 mortality. Studies regarding LTB prevalence" according to different studies" did not adjust malaria endemicity as a possible confounder. Many malaria-endemic countries are high TB prevalent. Malaria-free countries could be: high, moderate, or low in TB prevalence. The main aim of this study is to look for the influence of TB prevalence on COVID-19 mortality. TB prevalence reflects LTB prevalence in the absence of malaria endemicity as a possible confounding factor in TB studies. Material and methods: The total chosen countries were 69 non-malaria endemic countries. Countries were classified according to TB prevalence groups into low, moderate, and high prevalent groups. Covid-19 deaths/Million(M) inhabitants were taken as reported on September 2, 2020. "Kendall's-τ Correlation Coefficient", "Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney test were used in statistical analyses.Results: We found inverse relationships between TB prevalence and COVID-19 deaths/ (M) inhabitants and a highly positive significant correlation coefficient was reported (0.008) in Kendall's-τ correlation coefficient test. Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant relationship within studied groups. Furthermore, the low TB prevalent group had significant reverse associations with both high and moderate TB prevalent groups in the Mann-Whitney test.Conclusion: In the absence of possible malaria confounding, TB prevalence in malaria-free countries is inversely related to COVID-19 mortality in a highly significant association.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
Ricky Surya ◽  
Dennis Gunawan

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. It can affect some parts of the body: lungs, lymph nodes, intestines, kidneys, endometrium, bones, and brain. According to the survey of tuberculosis prevalence conducted by Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Health in 2013-2014, Indonesia was the second country in the world with the most case of tuberculosis. It makes Indonesia become a country with emergency in lungs tuberculosis. An expert system for lungs tuberculosis detection is built to help people detecting the possibility of suffering from lungs tuberculosis. Therefore, it is hoped that the lungs tuberculosis patient can have early treatment. Certainty factor is used to solve the uncertainty problem delivered by the doctor when examining the patient. Thus, certainty factor is an appropriate method to be used in the expert system for detecting certain disease. This method has been correctly implemented, proved by comparing system detection result to manual calculation result. The expert system has 81.25% accuracy, 83.49% success using DeLone and McLean model, and a cronbach alpha of 0.82 which indicates a good reliability based on the indicators used in the questionnaire. Index Terms— Certainty Factor, Disease Detection, Expert System, Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Situsparu


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill K. Gersh ◽  
Ruanne V. Barnabas ◽  
Daniel Matemo ◽  
John Kinuthia ◽  
Zachary Feldman ◽  
...  

Abstract Background People living with HIV (PLHIV) who reside in high tuberculosis burden settings remain at risk for tuberculosis disease despite treatment with anti-retroviral therapy and isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT). The performance of the World Health Organization (WHO) symptom screen for tuberculosis in PLHIV receiving anti-retroviral therapy is sub-optimal and alternative screening strategies are needed. Methods We enrolled HIV-positive adults into a prospective study in western Kenya. Individuals who were IPT-naïve or had completed IPT > 6 months prior to enrollment were eligible. We evaluated tuberculosis prevalence overall and by IPT status. We assessed the accuracy of the WHO symptom screen, GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert), and candidate biomarkers including C-reactive protein (CRP), hemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio for identifying pulmonary tuberculosis. Some participants were evaluated at 6 months post-enrollment for tuberculosis. Results The study included 383 PLHIV, of whom > 99% were on antiretrovirals and 88% had received IPT, completed a median of 1.1 years (IQR 0.8–1.55) prior to enrollment. The prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis at enrollment was 1.3% (n = 5, 95% CI 0.4–3.0%): 4.3% (0.5–14.5%) among IPT-naïve and 0.9% (0.2–2.6%) among IPT-treated participants. The sensitivity of the WHO symptom screen was 0% (0–52%) and specificity 87% (83–90%). Xpert and candidate biomarkers had poor to moderate sensitivity; the most accurate biomarker was CRP ≥ 3.3 mg/L (sensitivity 80% (28–100) and specificity 72% (67–77)). Six months after enrollment, the incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis following IPT completion was 0.84 per 100 person-years (95% CI, 0.31–2.23). Conclusions In Kenyan PLHIV treated with IPT, tuberculosis prevalence was low at a median of 1.4 years after IPT completion. WHO symptoms screening, Xpert, and candidate biomarkers were insensitive for identifying pulmonary tuberculosis in antiretroviral-treated PLHIV.


2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sait Ozsoy ◽  
Birol Demirel ◽  
Ali Albay ◽  
Ozgul Kisa ◽  
Ahmet H. Dinc ◽  
...  

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