Pediatric COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Series of Cases Report in Cameroon

Isabelle, Mekone Nkwele; David, C. Alexander; Eugene, Eloundou Odi; Suzanne, Sap; Josephine, Meli; Hamsatou, Hadja; Alain, Balla Nkonda; Basilice, Minka; Paul, Djientcheu Vincent de

doi:10.4236/ojped.2020.102037

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Most publications on clinical experiences from African settings describe either case series or small cohorts of mostly asymptomatic children found through contact tracing [12][13][14][15][16]. Fever, respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms were most common.…”

Section: Acute Coronavrus Disease 2019mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most publications on clinical experiences from African settings describe either case series or small cohorts of mostly asymptomatic children found through contact tracing [12–16]. Table 1 summarizes clinical data of four hospital-based studies in Africa, of which three are from Sub-Saharan Africa and one from North Africa (Tunisia) [8 ▪▪ ,17 ▪ ,18 ▪ ,19].…”

Section: Acute Coronavrus Disease 2019mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 in Africa

Zalm¹,

Donà²,

Rabie³

2023

Current Opinion in Pediatrics

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Purpose of reviewThree years into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, data on pediatric COVID-19 from African settings is limited. Understanding the impact of the pandemic in this setting with a high burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases is critical to implementing effective interventions in public health programs.Recent findingsMore severe COVID-19 has been reported in African settings, with especially infants and children with underlying comorbidities at highest risk for more severe disease. Data on the role of tuberculosis and HIV remain sparse. Compared to better resourced settings more children with multisystem inflammatory disease (MISC) are younger than 5 years and there is higher morbidity in all settings and increased mortality in some settings. Several reports suggest decreasing prevalence and severity of MIS-C disease with subsequent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant waves. Whether this decrease continues remains to be determined. Thus far, data on long-COVID in African settings is lacking and urgently needed considering the severity of the disease seen in the African population.SummaryConsidering the differences seen in the severity of disease and short-term outcomes, there is an urgent need to establish long-term outcomes in children with COVID-19 and MIS-C in African children, including lung health assessment.

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Section: Acute Coronavrus Disease 2019mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most publications on clinical experiences from African settings describe either case series or small cohorts of mostly asymptomatic children found through contact tracing [12–16]. Table 1 summarizes clinical data of four hospital-based studies in Africa, of which three are from Sub-Saharan Africa and one from North Africa (Tunisia) [8 ▪▪ ,17 ▪ ,18 ▪ ,19].…”

Section: Acute Coronavrus Disease 2019mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 in Africa

Zalm¹,

Donà²,

Rabie³

2023

Current Opinion in Pediatrics

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Pediatric COVID-19 and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Africa

et al. 2021

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O ne year into the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the African continent still seems to be spared from the devastating effects the disease had in other continents. Africa's COVID-19 seems to be of a milder nature both in adults and children. However, lack of data from Africa is significant, and more studies are needed to validate the disease status, clinical manifestations, and future implications for Africa. In this study, we report pediatric COVID-19 features in Africa represented by 8 countries.We conducted a systematic literature review (March 2020 to November 2021) using the terms COVID-19 Africa, COVID-19 Africa Pediatrics, and COVID-19 Africa Children. Case characteristics (10 studies in 8 countries, 294 patients positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2] by polymerase chain reaction; Table 1 Q1 Supplementary Table 1) are described. Symptoms and comorbidities were combined, compared, and analyzed by weighted analysis methods. SPSS version 26 was used for this analysis.Ethiopian patients were the oldest. The mean age of our cohort was 11.4 years with a minimum of 5.75 years and a maximum of 15 years. Patients from Ethiopia (Table 1, Supplementary Figure 1) were on average 15 years old followed by Morocco, at 13 years old. The youngest patients were from Sierra Leone, at 5.75 years old. Female patients made 55% of our cohort, but gender distribution was not uniform. The Tunisian cohort was 87.5% males, whereas the South African cohort was 73.9% females. No deaths were reported in the overall cohort.Fever was the most common symptom, found in 24.6% of the cohort. Its distribution was 19.9% in the Moroccan cohort, 5.6% in Ethiopia, and up to 100% in South African and Tunisian cohorts. Cough was present in 20% of our African cohort, ranging from 2.2% in Sierra Leone to 22.5% in the Nigerian cohort. Dyspnea was present in 8.5% (25% in Cameroon cohort) and myalgia in 60.8%. Interestingly, there were 63% asymptomatic cases. The Egyptian cohort had 100% asymptomatic cases, whereas Nigeria and Sierra Leone reported 33% and 22%, respectively.Diarrhea and abdominal pain were frequent. Our cohort had an 18.4% diarrhea prevalence, with the highest prevalence in Tunisia (87.5%) and the lowest in Morocco (6.7%). Abdominal pain was present in 16.7%, with a prevalence of 100% in Tunisia and 1.3% in Morocco. Nausea was present in 8% and vomiting in 4.9%. Nausea was noted in 50% in the Tunisian cohort, whereas 4.4% and 5.7% had vomiting in Ethiopia and Nigeria, respectively. The least common symptom was anosmia at 4.3%, with the highest prevalence of 5.8% in Morocco (Table 1, Supplementary Figure 2).Studies from South Africa and Tunisia had more reported symptoms, some of which were highly prevalent. Cumulatively, conjunctivitis was present in 64.5% of these 2 countries' cohorts. More specifically, it was reported in 65.2% in South Africa and 62.5% in Tunisia. Rash followed a similar profile, although at much higher cumulative Q4

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The COVID-19 Prevalence among Children: Hypotheses for Low Infection Rate and Few Severe Forms among This Age Group in Sub-Saharan Africa

Njonnou

Anangmo

Lekpa

et al. 2021

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases

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Despite some cases of severe or critical manifestations of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) described among children, the prevalence of this infection in the pediatric population is quite low worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Current data suggest indeed that, independent of the population considered overall, severe and critical cases of COVID-19 are rare among children. This observation prompted us to discuss the possible hypotheses which could explain the low prevalence of COVID-19 among children; amongst others, we discuss (1) immunomodulation by the Bacillus Calmette–Guerin vaccine or by some parasitic infections such as malaria, schistosomiasis, and helminthiasis and (2) cross immunization with other coronaviruses commonly found in the sub-Saharan African setting.

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Pediatric COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Series of Cases Report in Cameroon

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

Pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 in Africa

Pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 in Africa

Pediatric COVID-19 and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Africa

The COVID-19 Prevalence among Children: Hypotheses for Low Infection Rate and Few Severe Forms among This Age Group in Sub-Saharan Africa

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