Investigating the Incidence of Tuberculosis during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Comparing it with One Year before the Pandemic in Hamadan City

The combination of tuberculosis and COVID-19 will have catastrophic effects on public health. Therefore, this study investigated the incidence of tuberculosis in the population of Hamedan City after the outbreak of COVID-19 and compared its results with one year before the pandemic.

In this cross-sectional study, the data were obtained from the tuberculosis reference laboratory and tuberculosis registration station of Hamedan Health Center, and data analysis was done using Excel.

Out of the 35 sputum samples sent before the outbreak of COVID-19, 21 (60%) were smear-positive, and 14 (66.66%) were reported as positive-culture samples. The annual incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in Hamadan City was calculated to be about 3.6 per 100,000 population. On the other hand, one year after the outbreak of COVID-19, 11 samples were collected, of which 10 (90.9%) were smear-positive and 9 (81.81%) were positive-culture samples. The annual incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in Hamadan City was calculated to be about 1.63 per 100,000 population.

It seems that the COVID-19 pandemic, with its impact on the diagnostic programs of the care system of Hamedan City, has led to a decrease in the diagnosis of new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis compared to the periods before the pandemic.