Alecia Brits

Ms. Alecia Brits

University of Pretoria
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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27 November 2021 in Diagnostics
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
TDThobeka Dlangalala
Thobeka Dlangalala
AMAlfred Musekiwa
Alfred Musekiwa
Alecia BritsAlecia Brits
Alecia Brits
KMKuhlula Maluleke
Kuhlula Maluleke
ZJZiningi Nobuhle Jaya
Ziningi Nobuhle Jaya
Tivani Mashamba-ThompsonTivani Mashamba-Thompson
Tivani Mashamba-Thompson
Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major public health concern, despite the availability of preventative and curative therapies. Significant progress has been made in the past decade towards its control. However, the emergence of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disrupted numerous essential health services, including those for TB. This scoping review maps the available evidence on TB services at the primary healthcare (PHC) level during the COVID-19 period. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Medline OVID, Medline EBSCO, and Scopus. A total of 820 articles were retrieved from the databases and 21 met the eligibility criteria and were used for data extraction. The emerging themes were the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB services, patient and provider experiences, recommendations for TB services during the COVID-19 period, and the implementation of the recommendations. The review found that the mitigation strategies, as well as fear and stigma experienced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to TB cases potentially going undetected, which may threaten TB treatment outcomes. Therefore, efforts must be directed at finding these missing cases and ensuring that PHC facilities are equipped to adequately diagnose and treat them.