The COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa: The significance of presumed immune sufficiency

African Journal of Laboratory Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa: The significance of presumed immune sufficiency
 
Creator Idowu, Abel O. Omosun, Yusuf O. Igietseme, Joseph U. Azenabor, Anthony A.
 
Subject — COVID-19; coronavirus; immune response; sub-Saharan Africa; infectious diseases
Description A novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in China in 2019 and later ignited a global pandemic. Contrary to expectations, the effect of the pandemic was not as devastating to Africa and its young population compared to the rest of the world. To provide insight into the possible reasons for the presumed immune sufficiency to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa, this review critically examines literature published from 2020 onwards on the dynamics of COVID-19 infection and immunity and how other prevalent infectious diseases in Africa might have influenced the outcome of COVID-19. Studies characterising the immune response in patients with COVID-19 show that the correlates of protection in infected individuals are T-cell responses against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and neutralising titres of immunoglobin G and immunoglobin A antibodies. In some other studies, substantial pre-existing T-cell reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 was detected in many people from diverse geographical locations without a history of exposure. Certain studies also suggest that innate immune memory, which offers protection against reinfection with the same or another pathogen, might influence the severity of COVID-19. In addition, an initial analysis of epidemiological data showed that COVID‑19 cases were not severe in some countries that implemented universal Bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) vaccination policies, thus supporting the potential of BCG vaccination to boost innate immunity. The high burden of infectious diseases and the extensive vaccination campaigns previously conducted in Africa could have induced specific and non-specific protective immunity to infectious pathogens in Africans.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2023-01-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ajlm.v12i1.1964
 
Source African Journal of Laboratory Medicine; Vol 12, No 1 (2023); 10 pages 2225-2010 2225-2002
 
Language eng
 
Relation
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https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/1964/2541 https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/1964/2542 https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/1964/2543 https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/1964/2544
 
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Rights Copyright (c) 2023 Abel O. Idowu, Yusuf O. Omosun, Joseph U. Igietseme, Anthony A. Azenabor https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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