Why is There Low Morbidity and Mortality of COVID-19 in Africa?

Three months since the detection of the first COVID-19 case in Africa, almost all countries of the continent continued to report lower morbidity and mortality than the global trend, including Europe and North America. We reviewed the merits of various hypotheses advanced to explain this phenomenon,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 103; no. 2; p. 564
Main Authors: Njenga, M Kariuki, Dawa, Jeanette, Nanyingi, Mark, Gachohi, John, Ngere, Isaac, Letko, Michael, Otieno, C F, Gunn, Bronwyn M, Osoro, Eric
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01.08.2020
Subjects:
Africa - epidemiology
Age Distribution
Betacoronavirus
Coronavirus Infections - mortality
COVID-19
Humans
Morbidity
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - mortality
SARS-CoV-2
Weather
Africa
ISSN:1476-1645, 1476-1645
Online Access:Get more information
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Three months since the detection of the first COVID-19 case in Africa, almost all countries of the continent continued to report lower morbidity and mortality than the global trend, including Europe and North America. We reviewed the merits of various hypotheses advanced to explain this phenomenon, including low seeding rate, effective mitigation measures, population that is more youthful, favorable weather, and possible prior exposure to a cross-reactive virus. Having a youthful population and favorable weather appears compelling, particularly their combined effect; however, progression of the pandemic in the region and globally may dispel these in the coming months.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1476-1645
1476-1645
DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.20-0474