Tuberculosis in the Russian Federation: Dynamics of the Epidemic Indicators before and after COVID-19 Pandemic

Anna Starshinova; Irina Dovgalyk; Mikhail Beltukov; Yulia Zinchenko; Anzhela Glushkova; Anastasia Y Starshinova; Natalia Doktorova; Dmitry Kudlay

doi:10.3390/life12101468

Tuberculosis in the Russian Federation: Dynamics of the Epidemic Indicators before and after COVID-19 Pandemic

Life (Basel). 2022 Sep 21;12(10):1468. doi: 10.3390/life12101468.

Authors

Anna Starshinova¹, Irina Dovgalyk², Mikhail Beltukov^{2

3}, Yulia Zinchenko², Anzhela Glushkova⁴, Anastasia Y Starshinova⁵, Natalia Doktorova⁶, Dmitry Kudlay^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Research Department, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 197341 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
² Saint Petersburg Research Institute of Phthisiopulmonology, 191036 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
³ Saint Petersburg State Electrotechnical Institute, 191036 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
⁴ V.M. Bekhterev National Research Medical Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, 192019 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
⁵ Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University, 194100 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
⁶ GSC "GENERIUM", 119991 Moscow, Russia.
⁷ Department of Pharmacology, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
⁸ SSC Immunology Institute, 115552 Moscow, Russia.

Abstract

The measures taken against tuberculosis (TB) in recent years in the Russian Federation have been highly effective. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic may seriously undermine the progress that has been made in the fight against TB. The aim of this study was to assess changes in the epidemiological rates of tuberculosis in the Russian Federation before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods. The analysis was conducted by considering the main epidemiological indicators of tuberculosis, according to the federal statistics for the period from 2017 to 2021. The parameters were estimated according to the data received from 11 areas in the North-Western region. Statistical analysis was carried out using the free software computing environment R (v.3.5.1) and the commercial software package Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 24.0, IBM Corp., 2016). Research results. We found a positive correlation between the incidence among the overall population and the incidence among children aged 0-17, inclusively (r = 0.55 in 2017, r = 0.60 in 2020, and r = 0.53 in 2021). Along with the received regularities, a different trend is shown in the data analysis of general incidence and health X-ray examination for tuberculosis among the general population. The correlation has decreased threefold from 2017 (r = 0.72) to 2020 (r = 0.32); this negative trend might be the result of factors such as the quality of X-ray screening examinations among the general population, and the reduced assessment objectivity of the tuberculosis incidence rate. Conclusions. In assessing the correlation between general incidence and incidence in children under 17 years of age, as well as between incidence and mortality in the Russian Federation, a positive correlation was found with an increasing trend. Such a discrepancy might be due to decreases in the occupational health examination coverage among the general population. Therefore, in the years ahead, we can expect epidemiological indicators to increase incidence and mortality, including child mortality, associated with the insufficient detection of tuberculosis among the population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Tuberculosis; X-ray examination; epidemiological indicators; morbidity; mortality.

Grants and funding

Government funding was obtained from the Almazov National Medical Research Centre, and the St. Petersburg Scientific Research Institute of Phthisiopulmonology.