The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Tuberculosis Control and Management | ||
| Zagazig University Medical Journal | ||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 25 October 2025 | ||
| Document Type: Review Articles | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/zumj.2025.426228.4212 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Nagat Ali Mohamed1; Lamiaa Gaber Zake2; Manal Hossini Sabri* 3; Mohammad Walaa Saeid2 | ||
| 1Professor of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University | ||
| 2Assistant Professor of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University | ||
| 3MBBCH, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig university | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted global tuberculosis (TB) control, eroding years of elimination progress. Both diseases share respiratory transmission and overlapping symptoms, hindering timely diagnosis and management. From 2020–2022, diversion of laboratories and healthcare resources to COVID-19, coupled with lockdowns and economic strain, sharply reduced TB notifications, delayed treatment, and interrupted preventive measures such as contact tracing and tuberculosis preventive therapy. This review synthesizes current evidence on TB epidemiology, diagnostics, treatment, and prevention during the COVID-19 era, emphasizing opportunities to strengthen and integrate TB management programs. Conclusion: COVID-19 reversed advances in TB control, causing diagnostic delays, treatment interruptions, and weakened prevention programs. These setbacks increased the mortality and fueled transmission, with TB again becoming the world’s leading infectious killer by 2023. Egypt, especially its densely populated governorates, reflected these global challenges as resources shifted and healthcare access was strained, underscoring the need for resilient, integrated TB and management strategies. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| COVID-19; Tuberculosis; Impact; Management | ||
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