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. 2021 Jun;113(3):324-335.
doi: 10.1016/j.jnma.2020.10.001. Epub 2020 Nov 3.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Is Africa Different?

Ebun L Bamgboye  1 , Jesutofunmi A Omiye  2 , Oluwasegun J Afolaranmi  2 , Mogamat Razeen Davids  3 , Elliot Koranteng Tannor  4 , Shoyab Wadee  5 , Abdou Niang  6 , Anthony Were  7 , Saraladevi Naicker  8
Affiliations

COVID-19 Pandemic: Is Africa Different?

Ebun L Bamgboye et al. J Natl Med Assoc. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

COVID-19 has now spread to all the continents of the world with the possible exception of Antarctica. However, Africa appears different when compared with all the other continents. The absence of exponential growth and the low mortality rates contrary to that experienced in other continents, and contrary to the projections for Africa by various agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) has been a puzzle to many. Although Africa is the second most populous continent with an estimated 17.2% of the world's population, the continent accounts for only 5% of the total cases and 3% of the mortality. Mortality for the whole of Africa remains at a reported 19,726 as at August 01, 2020. The onset of the pandemic was later, the rate of rise has been slower and the severity of illness and case fatality rates have been lower in comparison to other continents. In addition, contrary to what had been documented in other continents, the occurrence of the renal complications in these patients also appeared to be much lower. This report documents the striking differences between the continents and within the continent of Africa itself and then attempts to explain the reasons for these differences. It is hoped that information presented in this review will help policymakers in the fight to contain the pandemic, particularly within Africa with its resource-constrained health care systems.

Keywords: APOL1; Acute kidney injury; Africa; COVAN; COVID-19; Chronic kidney disease; Pandemic; SARS-COV-2 virus.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Shows each continent's share of total global population, total COVID-19 cases and mortality in percentages.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparing COVID-19 cases per million population for each continent.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Only 5 countries account for 75% of all cases and 76% of all deaths reported in Africa.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(A) Total flights per year in millions and Total COVID-19 cases in thousands in Africa. (B) Flights per year (log) charted against cases/million for all African countries and countries with top 10 highest cases.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Median age and Deaths/million: Higher median age clearly correlates with more deaths per million population.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Obesity predicts worse COVID-19 outcomes.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Correlation between Diabetes prevalence with total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
Figure 8
Figure 8
(A) Human development index and deaths from COVID-19 per million population (Log scale). (B) HAQ index and cases of COVID-19 per million population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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