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Objective: The objective was to study the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of various computed tomography (CT) chest findings in diagnosing recurrence among pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) suspects. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi. A total of 130 suspects with a past history of treatment for PTB, who presented with any of the symptoms suggestive of recurrence were included. Sputum-positive, HIV-positive patients, pregnant females, and patients aged <18 years were excluded. Patients underwent CT chest followed by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Results: A total of 62 patients were there in the final analysis. The median age of the patients with recurrent PTB was 27.5 years. Cough was the universal symptom in all these patients (>90%). Hemoptysis was the predominant symptom among patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (66.6%). Necrotic mediastinal lymph nodes had good diagnostic accuracy of 88.71% with area under the curve of 0.806, P < 0.001 in diagnosing recurrent TB. BAL GeneXpert and mycobacteria growth indicator tube had good sensitivity (83.33% and 84.62%, respectively), specificity (100% for both), and excellent diagnostic accuracy (95.16% and 96.36%, respectively) for diagnosing recurrence in sputum negative and sputum scarce patient, (P < 0.001) when compared with composite reference standard. For culture-positive cases, BAL GeneXpert MTB/RIF had 100% sensitivity and 97.73% specificity in diagnosing recurrent PTB patients. Conclusion: The presence of mediastinal necrotic lymph node is the most accurate CT finding that can differentiate recurrent TB from post-TB sequelae. No other single chest CT scan finding had reliable diagnostic accuracy in comparison to microbiological tools in diagnosing recurrence among sputum negative or scarce previously treated PTB suspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently, there is no data on the impact of COVID-19 on patients' income and work in India. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study at a tertiary hospital in New Delhi. We included all the patients who were ≥18 years of age and consecutively diagnosed with COVID-19 between the 1st of May 2020 to 31st July 2020. Patients were interviewed by a physician using a semi-structure questionnaire. Data were collected on socio-economic status, occupation, income loss, leaves taken, decrease in work efficiency (self-perceived) and about-facing any stigma/discrimination at the workplace. Results: Out of 245 patients, 190 patients were employed. A total of 126 patients (66.3%) self-reported their work was affected due to COVID-19 disease. A total of 30.5% of patients (n = 58/190) reported deduction in their salary. The median amount of salary loss was INR 10,000 (IQR 9000–25000). Decrease in income and work efficiency (self-perceived) was found to be 37.3% (n = 71) and 12.1% (n = 23), respectively. A total of 47 patients (37.3%) took personal leaves (median number – 17 days (IQR 14–25), and discrimination/stigma related to the COVID-19 at the workplace was faced by 22.6% of patients. Conclusion: Income and work of a substantial number of patients was affected due to COVID-19, as there was a decrease in income and work efficiency. Patients also had to take personal leaves and face stigma in the workplace. This will inform the policymakers to formulate strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]