The Use of COVID-19 Surveillance Measures in Detecting Cases of Tuberculosis (TB)

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused countries to develop novel methods to detect and trace active cases. These methods aim to limit its spread; however, they can also be used to detect other endemic infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB). The current methods used to detect COVID-19 cases, such as temperature-checking and tracing applications, led to the detection of these specific TB cases and their referral to the hospital. In this study, we present four cases of TB in which the patients come from different working backgrounds. We conclude that the current measures used for COVID-19 could also prove to be beneficial in the context of other infectious diseases, mainly TB.

Keywords

• COVID-19 measures
• infectious diseases
• TB
• tuberculosis detection