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by Linda Petrone et al 20 MIN READ
The interaction of COVID-19 and tuberculosis (TB) are still poor characterized. This review evaluates the immune response specific for Micobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and SARS-CoV-2 using a whole-blood-based assay-platform in COVID-19 patients either with TB or latent TB infection (LTBI). The data was collected by consecutively enrolling 63 COVID-19, 10 TB-COVID-19 and 11 LTBI-COVID-19 patients. This review found that the response to Mtb-antigens was significantly associated with TB status and therefore it was higher in TB-COVID-19 and LTBI-COVID-19 patients compared to COVID-19 patients . Positive responses against CD4-S were found in 35/63 COVID-19 patients, 7/11 LTBI-COVID-19 and only 2/10 TB-COVID-19 patients. The TB-COVID-19 patients showed the lowest quantitative IFN-γ response to CD4-S compared to COVID-19-patients and LTBI-COVID-19 patients. This data demonstrates that COVID-19 patients with either TB or LTBI co-infection, have a low ability to build an immune response to COVID-19 while retaining the ability to respond to Mtb-specific antigens. This is a useful review for implementers. Click here to read the review.