Re-reading ACT, BCG, and Low COVID-19 in Africa

Kangbai, Jia Bainga; Babawo, Lawrence Sao; Kaitibi, Daniel; Sandi, Anthony A; George, Angela Magdalene; Sahr, Foday

doi:10.1007/s42399-020-00704-3

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…However, such beneficial effect was not confirmed by several clinical trials [ 43 – 46 ]. The wide use of these treatments in highly malaria-endemic countries has been suggested to be responsible for the reported low COVID-19 burden in SSA [ 36 , 47 ]. On the other hand, the increased usage of these drugs for COVID-19 prevention and treatment in some malaria-endemic countries might have reduced malaria [ 25 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public health-relevant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Heuschen

Razum

et al. 2021

Malar J

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented challenges to health systems worldwide, including the control of non-COVID-19 diseases. Malaria cases and deaths may increase due to the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic in malaria-endemic countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This scoping review aims to summarize information on public health-relevant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the malaria situation in SSA. Methods Review of publications and manuscripts on preprint servers, in peer-reviewed journals and in grey literature documents from 1 December, 2019 to 9 June, 2021. A structured search was conducted on different databases using predefined eligibility criteria for the selection of articles. Results A total of 51 papers have been included in the analysis. Modelling papers have predicted a significant increase in malaria cases and malaria deaths in SSA due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many papers provided potential explanations for expected COVID-19 effects on the malaria burden; these ranged from relevant diagnostical and clinical aspects to reduced access to health care services, impaired availability of curative and preventive commodities and medications, and effects on malaria prevention campaigns. Compared to previous years, fewer country reports provided data on the actual number of malaria cases and deaths in 2020, with mixed results. While highly endemic countries reported evidence of decreased malaria cases in health facilities, low endemic countries reported overall higher numbers of malaria cases and deaths in 2020. Conclusions The findings from this review provide evidence for a significant but diverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in SSA. There is the need to further investigate the public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the malaria burden. Protocol registered on Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/STQ9D

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public health-relevant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Heuschen

Razum

et al. 2021

Malar J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, such beneficial effect has not been confirmed by several clinical trials (42)(43)(44)(45). The wide use of these treatments in highly malaria endemic countries has been suggested to be responsible for the reported low COVID-19 burden in SSA (35,46).…”

Section: Diagnostic and Clinical Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, such beneficial effect was not confirmed by several clinical trials (43)(44)(45)(46). The wide use of these treatments in highly malaria endemic countries has been suggested to be responsible for the reported low COVID-19 burden in SSA (36,47). On the other hand, the increased usage of these drugs for COVID-19 prevention and treatment in some malaria endemic countries might have reduced malaria (25).…”

Section: Diagnostic and Clinical Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public health relevant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review

Heuschen

Razum

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented challenges to health systems worldwide, including the control of non-COVID-19 diseases. Malaria cases and deaths may increase due to the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic in malaria endemic countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Objectives: This scoping review aims to summarize information on public health relevant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the malaria situation in SSA. Methods: Review of publications and manuscripts on preprint servers, in peer-reviewed journals and in grey literature documents from December 1, 2019, to June 9, 2021. A structured search was conducted on different databases using predefined eligibility criteria for the selection of articles. Results: A total of 51 papers have been included in the analysis. Modeling papers have predicted a significant increase in malaria cases and malaria deaths in SSA due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many papers provided potential explanations for expected COVID-19 effects on the malaria burden; these ranged from relevant diagnostic and clinical aspects, to reduced access to health care services, impaired availability of curative and preventive commodities and medications, and effects on malaria prevention campaigns. Compared to previous years, fewer country reports provided data on the actual number of malaria cases and deaths in 2020, with mixed results. While highly endemic countries reported evidence of decreased malaria cases in health facilities, low endemic countries reported an overall higher numbers of malaria cases and deaths in 2020. Conclusions: The findings from this review provide evidence for a significant but diverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in SSA. There is the need to further investigate the public health consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on the malaria burden.

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“…Before the advent and recent rollout of COVID-19-specific vaccines, the desperate search to find interventions which could prevent the high mortality rates, especially in the elderly and those with co-morbidities, sparked off a global debate on the potential use of BCG for management or prevention of COVID-19 (Brooks et al, 2021;Charoenlap et al, 2020;Escobar et al, 2020;Klinger et al, 2020;Lindestam Arlehamn et al, 2020;Junqueira-Kipnis et al, 2020;Kinoshita and Tanaka, 2020;Riccò et al, 2020;ten Doesschate et al, 2020;Yitbarek et al, 2020). Due to the sense of urgency in addressing the rapidly-progressing pandemic, there were calls to roll out BCG vaccine for protection against SARS-CoV-2 (De Wals et al, 2020;Kangbai et al, 2021;Malik et al, 2020;Salman and Salem, 2020). There are also concerns about the lack of any convincing data on the effectiveness of BCG in preventing serious disease due to SARS-CoV-2 infection.…”

Section: Observations On Covid-19 Epidemiology and Bcg Vaccinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine and potential cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection — Assumptions, knowns, unknowns and need for developing an accurate scientific evidence base

Nachega¹,

Maeurer²,

Sam-Agudu³

et al. 2021

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

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After a century of controversies on its usefulness in protection against TB, underlying mechanisms of action, and benefits in various groups and geographical areas, the BCG vaccine is yet again a focus of global attention- this time due to the global COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Recent studies have shown that human CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells primed with a BCG-derived peptide developed high reactivity to its corresponding SARS-CoV-2-derived peptide. Furthermore, BCG vaccine has been shown to substantially increase interferon-gamma (IFN-g) production and its effects on CD4 + T-cells and these non-specific immune responses through adjuvant effect could be harnessed as cross protection against severe forms of COVID-19.The completion of ongoing BGG trials is important as they may shed light on the mechanisms underlying BCG-mediated immunity and could lead to improved efficacy, increased tolerance of treatment, and identification of other ways of combining BCG with other immunotherapies.

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Re-reading ACT, BCG, and Low COVID-19 in Africa

Cited by 7 publications

References 18 publications

Public health-relevant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Public health-relevant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Public health relevant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review

Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine and potential cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection — Assumptions, knowns, unknowns and need for developing an accurate scientific evidence base

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