Coronavirus lockdown could trigger 1.4 million extra tuberculosis deaths, study shows
- New disease models showed that social distancing could lead to a disastrous rebound in TB infections
- A three-month lockdown followed by a 10-month ‘recovery’ period could lead to an additional 6 million infections by 2025, the study found
TB, a bacterial infection that normally attacks patients’ lungs, is largely treatable yet still infects an estimated 10 million people every year.
In 2018, it killed around 1.5 million people, according to the World Health Organisation, including more than 200,000 children.
Since effective medication exists, the world’s TB response is centred on testing and treating as many patients as possible.
But as Covid-19 forces governments to place populations on lockdown, new disease models showed that social distancing could lead to a disastrous rebound in TB infections – the effects of which are set to persist for years.
This is because social distancing will make it impossible for health care workers to test vulnerable populations and for patients to access ongoing treatments.