Association of baseline white blood cell counts with tuberculosis treatment outcome: a prospective multicentered cohort study

ObjectivesTuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious cause of death in the world. Cheaper and more accessible TB treatment monitoring methods are needed. Here, we evaluated white blood cell (WBC) absolute counts, lymphocyte, and monocyte proportions during TB treatment, and characterized their association with treatment failure.MethodsThis multicentered prospective cohort study was based in Bangladesh, Georgia, Lebanon, Madagascar, and Paraguay. Adult, non-immunocompromised patients with culture-confirmed pulmonary TB were included and followed up after two months of treatment and at the end of therapy. Blood counts were compared to treatment outcome using descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses.ResultsBetween December 2017 and August 2020, 198 participants were enrolled, and 152 completed treatment, including 28 (18.5%) drug-resistant patients. The rate of…