TB prevalence among patients with diabetes in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: 1) To assess the prevalence of TB among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) attending diabetic care centres in Bangladesh, and 2) to compare TB- and DM-related sociodemographic and other factors in diabetic patients who had TB and those who did not.METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 June 2019 to 31 March 2020 in 108 centres of the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (BADAS), with a sample size of 3,649 patients with DM. Data were collected by face-to-face interview using semi-structured questionnaire from each patient/guardian. Other ethical issues were also maintained.RESULTS: Out of 3,649 patients with DM, 676 presumptive TB cases were identified and tested; from them, 85 patients were detected as TB cases. Another 39 patients were already diagnosed and on anti-TB medication. Prevalence of TB among patients with DM attending diabetic care centres was 3.4%. Prevalence was higher in female than male (4.0% vs 2.6%). Underweight (9.0%) patients and patients having diabetes for more than 10 years (7.1%) had a higher prevalence of TB.CONCLUSION: TB prevalence was over 3% among study population with DM. Periodic screening and active case finding among DM patients should be strengthened to reduce the risk of TB infection among DM patients.

Risk factors associated with morbidity and mortality outcomes of COVID-19 patients on the 28th day of the disease course: a retrospective cohort study in Bangladesh.

Diverse risk factors intercede the outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We conducted this retrospective cohort study with a cohort of 1016 COVID-19 patients diagnosed in May 2020 to identify the risk factors associated with morbidity and mortality outcomes. Data were collected by telephone-interview and reviewing records using a questionnaire and checklist. The study identified morbidity and mortality risk factors on the 28th day of the disease course. The majority of the patients were male (64.1%) and belonged to the age group 25-39 years (39.4%). Urban patients were higher in proportion than rural (69.3% vs. 30.7%). Major comorbidities included 35.0% diabetes mellitus (DM), 28.4% hypertension (HTN), 16.6% chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 7.8% coronary heart disease (CHD). The morbidity rate (not-cured) was 6.0%, and the mortality rate (non-survivor) was 2.5%. Morbidity risk factors included elderly (AOR = 2.56, 95% CI = 1.31-4.99), having comorbidity (AOR = 1.43, 95% CI = 0.83-2.47), and smokeless tobacco use (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI = 0.84-5.61). The morbidity risk was higher with COPD (RR = 2.68), chronic kidney disease (CKD) (RR = 3.33) and chronic liver disease (CLD) (RR = 3.99). Mortality risk factors included elderly (AOR = 7.56, 95% CI = 3.19-17.92), having comorbidity (AOR = 5.27, 95% CI = 1.88-14.79) and SLT use (AOR = 1.93, 95% CI = 0.50-7.46). The mortality risk was higher with COPD (RR = 7.30), DM (RR = 2.63), CHD (RR = 4.65), HTN (RR = 3.38), CKD (RR = 9.03), CLD (RR = 10.52) and malignant diseases (RR = 9.73). We must espouse programme interventions considering the morbidity and mortality risk factors to condense the aggressive outcomes of COVID-19.