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Introduction: Of the problems in tuberculosis (TB) control program is the recurrence of this disease. In some studies, smoking has been reported as the most important risk factor. Therefore, the present study aimed at examining the association between smoking and tuberculosis recurrence using meta-analysis., Methods: To report the findings of this meta-analysis, we used PRISMA. The protocol of this study has been recorded in PROSPERO. The research question has been formulated based on PICO, and the search was performed using both MeSH and non-MeSH keywords. After screening and selecting the articles and evaluating their quality using the NOS checklist, the overall estimate of the odds ratio of tuberculosis recurrence in smokers was assessed with a 95% confidence interval., Results: Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The total number of samples in the group of patients with tuberculosis recurrence was 1988 with 855 (43%) smokers, and in the group of patients affected by tuberculosis without recurrence, it was 27,226 with 7503 (27.56%) smokers. In 13 studies, the odds ratio of tuberculosis recurrence was higher in smokers; this difference was statistically significant in 12 of them. Combining the results of these 14 studies, the odds ratio of tuberculosis recurrence in smokers was 2.10 times higher, using the random effects model (95% CI:1.69, 2.61)., Conclusion: Based on the results of study present, smoking increases the risk of tuberculosis recurrence. Therefore, to eradicate tuberculosis by 2030, more serious interventions should be taken to quit smoking, which in turn reduces the incidence of tuberculosis., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors declare that they have no Competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Inhalation phage therapy is proposed as a replacement approach for antibiotics in the treatment of pulmonary bacterial infections. This study investigates phage therapy on bacterial pneumonia in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 via the inhalation route. In this double-blind clinical trial, 60 patients with positive COVID-19 hospitalized in three central Mazandaran hospitals were chosen and randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. Standard country protocol drugs plus 10 mL of phage suspension every 12 h with a mesh nebulizer was prescribed for 7 days in the intervention group. The two groups were compared in terms of O 2 Sat, survival rate, severe secondary pulmonary bacterial infection and duration of hospitalization. Comparing the results between the intervention and control group, in terms of the trend of O 2 Sat change, negative sputum culture, no fever, no dyspnea, duration of hospitalization, duration of intubation and under ventilation, showed that the difference between these two groups was statistically different (P value < 0.05). In conclusion, inhalation phage therapy may have a potential effect on secondary infection and in the outcome of COVID-19 patients. However, more clinical trials with control confounding factors are needed to further support this concept., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)