Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41580819›Full record

ArticleBMC research notes2026

COVID-19 pandemic changes in social behavior relevant for transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Kristin N Nelson, Paige Harton, Ted Cohen, Fay Willis, Hikari Yoshii, Kogieleum Naidoo, Keeren Lutchminarain, Angie Campbell, Shaheed V Omar, Sara C Auld and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC research notes, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Kristin N NelsonDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. knbratt@emory.edu.
Paige HartonDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Ted CohenDepartment of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
Fay WillisDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Hikari YoshiiDepartment of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, USA.
Kogieleum NaidooCentre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) ZA, Durban, South Africa.
Keeren LutchminarainSchool of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Science, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Angie CampbellDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Shaheed V OmarCentre for Tuberculosis, National & WHO Supranational TB Reference Laboratory, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Serv, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Sara C AuldDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
James C M BrustDivisions of General Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
Neel R GandhiDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
N Sarita ShahDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.

Funding

Emory/Georgia TB Research Advancement Center (TRAC)P30AI168386 · NIAID · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI Jeffrey M Collins · 2022 to 2026
$5.8M
NIAID NIH HHS P30 AI168386
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveMycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is spread through the air. Although extensive data has shown that TB case notifications decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is little known about the extent to which these reductions were due to a decrease in transmission, rather than delays in healthcare seeking and diagnosis. We used data from CONTEXT, a population-based cross-sectional study which enrolled newly diagnosed cases of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) or pre-extensively drug resistant (pre-XDR) TB in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa from 2019 to 2023 and recorded information on their contacts.

resultsWe found that close contacts declined by 36% from 2019 to 2020 (p = 0.005). Casual contacts at locations where participants routinely spent time declined by 30% (p = 0.16). Based on our findings, substantially lower population-level risk of transmission could be expected between 2020 and 2022 in this region of South Africa. These data are useful for understanding the extent of the reduction in Mtb transmission during the pandemic.

Indexed as

COVID-19Extensively Drug-Resistant TuberculosisMycobacterium tuberculosisSocial BehaviorContact TracingCross-Sectional StudiesHumansPandemicsSARS-CoV-2South AfricaContact patternsSARS-CoV-2TransmissionTuberculosis

Identifiers

PMID41580819
PMCPMC12910772

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.