Academic Editor: Gustavo Caetano-Anollés
Tuberculosis (TB) and Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) infection are two
respiratory diseases that are of particular concern epidemiologically.
Tuberculosis is one of the oldest diseases recorded in the history of mankind
dating back thousands of years. It is estimated that approximately one quarter of
the world’s population is infected with latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (LTBI).
This contrasts with COVID-19, which emerged in late 2019. Data continues to
accumulate and become available on this pathogen, but the long-term side effect
of fibrotic damage in COVID-19 patients evokes parallels between this novel
coronavirus and its ancient bacterial affiliate. This similarity as well as
several others may incite inquiries on whether coinfection of individuals with
latent TB and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lead
to excessive fibrosis in the lungs and thus the emergence of an active TB
infection. While it is well understood how TB leads to structural and
immunological lung complications including granuloma formation, fibrosis, and T
cell exhaustion, less is known about the disease course when coinfection with
SARS-CoV-2 is present. Past and present research demonstrate that IL-10,
TNF-
