Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB)-related stigma has been well-documented. Since theemergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), different organizations havebeen alerted to the fact that stigma could arise again. Due to stigma’s negative effects,this qualitative study aimed to explore the stigma felt by patients by evaluating the following:COVID-19 stigma and its temporal progression through the pandemic; stigmaperceived by different patients with TB before and during COVID-19 pandemic; and differenceperceived by individuals who contracted both diseases. Methods: A semi-structured interview was developed according to the available literatureon the theme. It was performed individually in 2022 upon receiving signedinformed consent. Participants were recruited with a purposive sampling approach bysearching medical records. Those who currently or previously had pulmonary TB and/or COVID-19 were included. Data were subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Nine patients were interviewed, including six (66.7%) females. The median ageof patients was 51±14.7 years. Four participants (44.4%) had completed high schooland four (44.4%) were never smokers. Three had both TB and COVID-19. Four only hadTB and two only had COVID-19. Interviews identified eight main themes: knowledgeand beliefs, with several misconceptions identified; attitudes towards the disease, varyingfrom social support to exclusion; knowledge and education, assumed as of extremeimportance; internalized stigma, with self-rejection; experienced stigma, with discriminationepisodes; anticipated stigma, modifying actions for avoiding stigma; perceivedstigma, with judgment by others prevailed; and temporal evolution of stigma. Conclusion: Individuals expressed strong stigma for both diseases. De-stigmatizationof respiratory infectious diseases is crucial for limiting stigma’s negative impact.