Effects of Coronavirus Disease Pandemic on Tuberculosis Notifications, Malawi

  1. Rebecca Nzawa Soko
  2. Rachael M. Burke
  3. Helena R.A. Feasey
  4. Wakumanya Sibande
  5. Marriott Nliwasa
  6. Marc Y.R. Henrion
  7. McEwen Khundi
  8. Peter J. Dodd
  9. Chu Chang Ku
  10. Gift Kawalazira
  11. Augustine T. Choko
  12. Titus H. Divala
  13. Elizabeth L. Corbett
  14. Peter MacPherson

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Abstract

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  1. Version published to 10.3201/eid2707.210557
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.15.21253601: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: Thank you for sharing your code and data.

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Limitations to this work include uncertainty around the counterfactual conditions; between June 2016 and March 2020 TB case notifications were declining and for the counterfactual “no COVID” scenario we modelled them as continuing to decline at the same rate. Since December 2020, Malawi has had a second wave of COVID-19. Whilst our electronic enhanced surveillance data is entered in real time, data is monitored and verified on a quarterly basis, so we do not yet have information on the impact of the COVID-19 second wave in Malawi. Malawi is also fortunate to have well-functioning TB and HIV programmes that may be more resilient to COVID-19 than in other countries. Malawi did not introduce any substantial restrictions on population movement and gathering due to COVID-19, so there have been no legal restrictions on travelling to TB clinics. Therefore, our data are not necessarily generalisable to other settings in Southern Africa or elsewhere. The individual and household impact of missed or delayed TB diagnoses are likely to be severe for the affected people. However, it is relatively reassuring that the initial COVID-19 related decline in TB case notification was not sustained and that the Malawi TB programme had a relatively quick recovery once COVID-19 first wave rescinded. We observed a shorter period of disruption that earlier modelling of COVID-19 impact on TB assumed.(4) It is neither possible nor desirable to consider either COVID-19 or TB diagnosis, treatment, care an...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.15.21253601v1 on medRxiv