You Can’t Be Infected with TB and COVID-19 At the Same Time, New Study in Mice Suggests

A new study recently showed that in mice, the immune response mounted against tuberculosis had prevented them from developing COVID-19.

A report from EurekAlert! specified that according to research by the Ohio State University's Richard Robinson and colleagues, at present, the bacterium that's causing TB, mycobacterium tuberculosis, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that's causing COVID-19 are the "leading causes of death" from infectious disease all over the world.

TB is widespread, and researchers have doubted where the immune response stimulated by this severe respiratory infection might shield people from developing COVID-19. To investigate further, the study authors worked with two different strains of mice and infected them with mycobacterium tuberculosis.

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Researchers found that mice with TB exhibited no signs of COVID-19, possibly because the pre-existing immune response to TB stopped the virus from increasing in the lungs.

Mice with TB, No Signs of COVID-19

In their study published in PLOS Pathogens, the researchers exposed the mice to the COVID-19 virus and observed them closely for indications of infection.

As a result, the study investigators found that mice with TB exhibited no signs of COVID-19, possibly because the pre-existing immune response to TB stopped the virus from proliferating in the lungs. Altogether, the findings demonstrated that tuberculosis infection makes the lungs inhospitable to the COVID-19 virus in mice.

If a similar case is also true for humans, this finding may be one reason there have been few reports of people infected with both TB and COVID-19 in the absence of other complications.

Interaction Between TB and COVID-19 in Humans

The findings may also explain why countries are inclined to have high rates of COVID-19 infection or TB, but not both. The study authors, Medical Xpress, stated in a similar report, proposed that future studies need to focus on the interaction between tuberculosis and COVID-19 infections in humans.,

According to Robinson, TB and COVID are pandemics that impact every part of the globe. He added that their study reflects the work of a diverse and talented group of OSU researchers to better understand how these two diseases influence one another, a surprising observation being that mice with tuberculosis are resistant to COVID-19 in a laboratory setting.

Coronavirus Impacting TB in the US

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report said that TB disease diagnoses dropped 20 percent in the US in 2020 and stayed 13 percent lower in 2021 compared to TB disease diagnoses made before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new data showed that the pandemic had had a significant impact on TB trends in the US. Before the COVID-19 crisis, TB diagnoses usually dropped from one to two percent every year.

The declines in 2020 and 20201 may be associated with factors linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes a true decline in incidence and missed or delayed TB diagnoses. TB prevention and control initiatives are important public health functions for communities across the nation.

In support of such initiatives, the CDC launched the "Think. Test. Treat TB" campaign to help raise awareness of tuberculosis and acknowledge the essentiality of TB prevention.

Related information about tuberculosis and COVID-19 is shown on the World Health Organization's YouTube video below:

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