The impact of COVID-19 and the restoration of tuberculosis services in the Western Pacific Region

[摘要] We read with great interest the papers by STOCHINO et al. [1], TADOLINI et al. [2] and ONG et al. [3], which reported issues related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and tuberculosis (TB). The response to COVID-19, especially the lockdown of entire society, is likely to cause severe disruption of TB programmes [4–7]. Reduced TB case notifications have been reported from the top three high TB burden countries worldwide, raising concerns of un-interrupted TB transmission and increased TB mortality, thus posing the threat of derailing achievements made so far [4–7]. Furthermore, the process of post-lockdown restoration of TB services is important [7]. A slow restoration course may continue decreasing TB case finding as compared to a more rapid restoration time.

[学科分类] 呼吸医学