Current top causes of mortality from infectious illness include the bacteria that produces TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and also the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, although they are transmitted in different ways. Tuberculosis is a deadly respiratory illness that affects millions of individuals worldwide, and researchers have wondered if the immune response induced by this terrible respiratory infection may prevent people from getting COVID-19.
Despite the fact that concurrent Mtb/CoV2 infection might increase the symptoms of tuberculosis, the COVID 19 mortality rate seems to be lower in patients who have had a prior Mtb infection. One explanation for this might be a resemblance among CoV2 antigens and proteins produced by the Mycobacterium spp.
New research
As per recent research posted in the journal PLOS Pathogens, the effect of M. tuberculosis infection on secondary CoV2 infection was investigated. In order to learn more, the researchers studied two distinct types of mice that were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The mice were then infected with the COVID-19 virus, and the researchers kept an eye out for any symptoms of illness. When the researchers looked at mice with TB, they observed that there was no evidence of COVID-19, which they believe is because the pre-existing immune reaction to tuberculosis stopped the virus from spreading in the lungs.
In sum, the data suggest that TB infection in mice causes the lungs to become hostile to the COVID-19 virus, according to the researchers. This finding, if it holds true for people, might explain why there have been so few reports of persons who have both TB and COVID-19 in the lack of any additional issues in the last several decades. The results may help explain why certain nations have a greater incidence of COVID-19 infection while others have high rates of TB infection, but not both. It is suggested by the scientists that future studies should be focused on the connection between COVID-19 and TB infections in human beings.
