Screen all patients for TB & diabetes, Covid hosps told

With diabetes emerging as a major co-morbidity factor in Covid-19 deaths and studies underlining tuberculosis as an important risk factor for coronavirus infection, the health ministry on Wednesday issued two separate guidance documents asking Covid-19 hospitals to test every patient at admission for hyperglycaemia, and to screen all diagnosed TB patients for Covid-19 and all coronavirus-positive patients for TB.
Screening for TB will also be conducted among patients with influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI). While many states have already started TB screening for Covid-negative patients, the latest guidance takes it a step forward to bidirectional screening. The note further said studies had shown that history of active as well as latent TB was an important risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection