THE USE OF SPUTUM SAMPLES IN DETECTION OF SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS 2

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic helps people with Tuberculosis (Tb) to be minimized as a source
of pulmonary TB transmission, but does not rule out the possibility of them contracting
COVID-19. Examination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.Tb) through sputum through the
Ziehl Neelsen (ZN) examination which is mandatory for patients during the treatment period
of 2 months, 5 months and the end of treatment, can be used as time for detecting the
presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov2) .
The purpose of this study was to detect the presence of SARS-CoV2 in pulmonary
tuberculosis patients in Manado City through the Antigen-Rapid Detection Test (Ag-RDT)
using a sputum sample. 100 respondents were taken from the population of TB sufferers in 9
health centers with the highest TB burden in Manado City.
The results obtained that 3% of the respondents were reactive to the SARS-Cov2 antigen.
The conclusion is that the SARS-Cov2 Rapid Antigen examination method using sputum
samples when the patient performs the ZN examination obligation can be an alternative for
early detection of COVID-19. It is recommended to follow up with a real time reverse
transcription quantification polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) examination for TB patients
after the results are reactive to the SARS-Cov2 antigen.