Active or latent tuberculosis increases susceptibility to COVID-19 and disease severity

Yongyu Liu; Lijun Bi; Yu Chen; Yaguo Wang; Joy Fleming; Yanhong Yu; Ye Gu; Chang Liu; Lichao Fan; Xiaodan Wang; Moxin Cheng

(which was not peer-reviewed) The copyright holder for this preprint . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.10.20033795 doi: medRxiv preprint While most SARS-CoV-2 infections in the general population result in only mild symptoms, individuals with underlying comorbidities, particularly the elderly, are more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection and require additional care [3] [4] [5] . It is important to gain a clear picture of risk factors associated with this new viral respiratory infection in order to allocate appropriate medical resources to prevent the development of severe or critical forms of COVID-19 in those considered to be at higher risk. Here, we consider the possibility that infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen that causes tuberculosis (TB), the top cause of death due to an infectious disease, may predispose to SARS-CoV infection and the more rapid development of symptoms and severe COVID-19 pneumonia. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.