Socio-demographic and epidemiological consideration of Africa’s COVID-19 response: what is the possible pandemic course?

Gaye, Bamba; Khoury, Stéphanie; Cené, Crystal W.; Kingué, Samuel; N’Guetta, Roland; Lassale, Camille; Balde, Dadhi M; Diop, Ibrahima; Dowd, Jennifer Beam; Mills, Melinda; Jouven, Xavier

doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0960-y

Cited by 47 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…6,14 Several hypothesis including social determinants of health, preexisting conditions, genetics, structural racism, behavioral and economic aspects have been raised. 4 In our study, the Senegalese and Caucasians are likely to have a quite similar socioeconomic status and our results are, therefore, in favor of socioeconomic status playing a major role in the differences observed between ethnic groups in the US and the UK. Moreover, Senegal has tackled COVID-19 aggressively and, so far, effectively leading to a very low number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.…”

Section: During the Period Covering The Implementation Of Covid-19 Sasupporting

confidence: 50%

“…9 Such centralized response included surveillance in high-risk countries and provided proper laboratory testing and diagnosis; both strategies were deemed successful during the 2014 and 2018 Ebola epidemics. 9,4 It is also important to note that cases of infectious disease began to rise again between May and July. An explanation for this sudden increase could be that sanitary measures were no longer enforced as strictly as they once were at the beginning of the outbreak.…”

Section: During the Period Covering The Implementation Of Covid-19 Samentioning

confidence: 99%

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Time trends in infectious and chronic disease consultations in Dakar, Senegal: Impact of Covid-19 Sanitary Measures

Gaye

Diop

Khoury

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BackgroundThe impact of COVID-19 sanitary measures on the time trends in infectious and chronic disease consultations in Sub-Saharan Africa remains unknown.MethodsWe conducted a cohort study on all emergency medical consultations over a five-year period, January 2016 to July 2020, from SOS Medecins in Dakar, Senegal. The consultation records provided basic demographic information such as age, ethnicity (Senegalese v. Caucasian), and sex as well as the principal diagnosis using an ICD-10 classification (‘infectious, ‘chronic’, and ‘other’). Firstly, we investigated how the pattern in emergency consultation differed from March to July 2020 compared to previous years. Secondly, we examined any potential racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 consultation.FindingsData on emergency medical consultations were obtained from 53,583 patients of all ethnic origins. The mean age of patients was 37.0 ± 25.2 and 30.3 ± 21.7 in 2016-2019 and 45.5 ± 24.7 and 39·5 ± 23.3 in 2020 for Senegalese and Caucasians. The type of consultations between the months of January and July were similar from 2016 and 2019; however, in 2020, there was a drop among the numbers of infectious disease consultations, particularly from April to May 2020 when sanitary measures for COVID-19 were applied (average of 366.5 and 358.25 in 2016-1019 and 133 and 125 in 2020). The prevalence of chronic conditions remained steady during the same period (average of 381 and 394.75 in 2016-2019 and 373 and 367 in 2020). In a multivariate analysis after adjusting to age and sex, infectious disease consultations were significantly more likely to occur in 2016-2019 compared to 2020 (OR for 2016= 2.39, 2017= 2.74, 2018= 2.39, 2019= 2.01). Furthermore, the trend in the number of infectious and chronic consultations were similar among Senegalese and Caucasian groups, indicating no disparities among those seeking treatment.InterpretationDuring the implementation of COVID-19 sanitary measures, infectious disease rates dropped as chronic disease rates stayed stagnant in Dakar. Furthermore, no racial/ethnic disparities were observed among the infectious and chronic consultations.Key PointsQuestionHow has the application of COVID-19 sanitary measures affected emergency medical consultations from March to July 2020 compared to previous years?FindingThe rates of infectious diseases decreased as rates of chronic diseases stayed stagnant with the application of sanitary measures. Among the infectious and chronic disease consultations, no racial/ethnic disparities were observed.MeaningUnderstanding the effects of the sanitary measures against COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa has helped emphasize the possibility of limiting the spread of other infectious diseases in this part of the world where they are still highly prevalent and the efficiency of controlling the spread of the virus while avoiding racial/ethnic disparities.

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Section: During the Period Covering The Implementation Of Covid-19 Sasupporting

confidence: 50%

Section: During the Period Covering The Implementation Of Covid-19 Samentioning

confidence: 99%

Time trends in infectious and chronic disease consultations in Dakar, Senegal: Impact of Covid-19 Sanitary Measures

Gaye

Diop

Khoury

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…A potential factor could be the relatively younger African populations as compared to that in America or Europe. This may result in more asymptomatic cases ( Gaye et al, 2020 ). Additionally, if the onerous high infectious disease burden in SSA includes exposure to human coronaviruses, this could elicit humoral responses against conserved epitopes among coronaviruses that might engender cross-protection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High prevalence of pre-existing serological cross-reactivity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in sub-Saharan Africa

Tso¹,

Lidenge²,

Peña³

et al. 2021

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

223

208

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“…The relatively low rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality in East and Southeast Asian countries, including Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia, are notable, and remain little understood. 2 Relatively low COVID-19 infection and mortality rates are also notable for several Sub-Saharan African countries. While these rates may be due to lower testing for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; the virus causing COVID-19), and fewer international arrivals, they may also reflect genetic variations between the populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic differences in alpha‐1 antitrypsin deficiency allele frequencies may partially explain national differences in COVID‐19 fatality rates

2020

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Socio-demographic and epidemiological consideration of Africa’s COVID-19 response: what is the possible pandemic course?

Abstract: Socio-demographic and epidemiological consideration of Africa's COVID-19 response: what is the possible pandemic course? Africa is said to be the next possible hotspot for COVID-19. However, we believe this is still preventable.

Cited by 47 publications

References 13 publications

Time trends in infectious and chronic disease consultations in Dakar, Senegal: Impact of Covid-19 Sanitary Measures

Time trends in infectious and chronic disease consultations in Dakar, Senegal: Impact of Covid-19 Sanitary Measures

High prevalence of pre-existing serological cross-reactivity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in sub-Saharan Africa

Ethnic differences in alpha‐1 antitrypsin deficiency allele frequencies may partially explain national differences in COVID‐19 fatality rates

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