Volume 27, Number 8—August 2021
Research Letter
Tuberculosis-Associated Hospitalizations and Deaths after COVID-19 Shelter-In-Place, San Francisco, California, USA
Table
New diagnoses of TB pre-SIP compared with during SIP during the coronavirus disease pandemic, San Francisco, California, USA, January 1, 2020–January 30, 2021*
| Variable | Pre-SIP: 2019 Jan 1–2020 Mar 15 | SIP: 2020 Mar 16–2021 Jan 30 | p value† |
|---|---|---|---|
| New diagnoses of active TB | 114 (100) | 52 (100)‡ | NA |
| Average no. new TB cases/month | 7.9 | 5.0 | NA |
| Median age of case-patients, y (range) | 64.0 (3–101) | 66.0 (15–97) | NS |
| New case-patients with cavitary TB | 33 (28.9) | 11 (21.2) | NS |
| New TB case-patients requiring hospitalization | 38 (33.3) | 33 (63.5) | 0.0003 |
| New TB case-patients requiring intensive care | 5 (4.4) | 12 (23.1) | 0.0002 |
| New TB case-patients who died | 15 (13.2) | 10 (19.2) | NS |
| New TB case-patients with TB-related deaths§ | 4 (3.5) | 7 (13.5) | 0.017 |
*Values are no. (%) unless indicated. Cases were counted according to the month when TB was diagnosed. NA, not applicable; NS, not significant (p>0.05); SIP, shelter-in-place; TB, tuberculosis. †By Pearson χ2 test. ‡All patients were tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 co-infection at time of TB diagnosis, except for 7 patients for whom testing was not routinely available in the first 3 months of the pandemic (March–May 2020); no patients were positive. §Cause of death was evaluated by standardized algorithm and review of medical records and death certificate, when available. Deaths were counted as TB-related when TB was assessed as an immediate or contributing cause of death.
1These senior authors contributed equally to this article.