The current syndemic in Venezuela: Measles, malaria and more co-infections coupled with a breakdown of social and healthcare infrastructure. Quo vadis?

Clinical features of the first cases and a cluster of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Bolivia imported from Italy and Spain

“…However, the question is if the spread occurs rapidly in the country, with communitytransmission as is now observed in other countries in the continent [72][73][74], Bolivia, as well as other low-and middle-income countries in the region, e.g. Haiti, Venezuela [75], Nicaragua, among others, will not be able to afford large-scale diagnostics [24]. Therefore, in the absence of testing, triage based on clinical case definition or presumptive diagnosis should be prioritized.…”

“…A national telehealth program is running for multiple purposes, including training on COVID-19. Albeit that, it is debatable whether countries such as Bolivia can fund the additional cost of critical care units from our limited health budgets [24,27], that need to attend not only the epidemic of COVID-19 but also other non-communicable diseases as well as communicable diseases, such as dengue, diarrhoea, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, among many other diseases [27,75].…”

“…Health authorities should train, equip, and strengthen the diagnostic capacities of hospital laboratories close to infectious disease and emergency departments to reduce the time to deliver results, manage confirmed cases and contacts more rapidly, and preserve strict infection control measures [25]. Finally, in the differential diagnosis with other febrile conditions, especially in Latin America, also coinfections with dengue [75] and with respiratory viruses, such as Influenza and Metapneumovirus [80][81][82], among others, already reported together with SARS-CoV-2, should be considered.…”

COVID-19 in Latin America: The implications of the first confirmed case in Brazil

“…Countries like Bolivia, Honduras, Mexico and Paraguay have reported an increase of double or triple the number of cases of dengue compared to the same period from the previous year [15]. In this complex epidemiological scenario, we are about to witness a syndemic [16] of measles, dengue, and COVID-19, among others, unfold.…”

COVID-19 in Piauí: initial scenario and perspectives for coping

“…Simultaneously, 2,184 suspected cases of measles were reported, of which 338 (15.5%) were confirmed (incidence rate of 0.8/100,000 inhabitants). In this difficult epidemiological scenario, there is a clear expectation of witnessing a measles, dengue, and COVID-19 syndemia, among other conditions that afflict the Brazilian population [5][6][7] .…”