Viewpoint of COVID-19 in Africa and Latin America

Year 2020, , 98 - 104, 29.10.2020

Ernest Herbert , Dominique Fournier

https://doi.org/10.46310/tjim.768866

Abstract

The spread of COVID-19 across the African continent and Latin American region is of great concern due to several influencing factors. Large and densely populated areas and townships with widespread poverty and high migration are the most vulnerable populations for a pandemic of this magnitude. The latter could be complicated since known communicable diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, cardiovascular disorder, hypertension and lack of basic healthcare delivery systems are known risks that may enhance the degree of mortality, via the pandemic in affected regions. The aim of this review is to focus on the clinical signs, transmission, case fatalities and influencing factors that might exacerbate the pandemic in these regions.

Keywords

COVID-19, Government regulation, Signs, Transmission, Fatalities

References

• 1. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) - Situation Report - 57. Available at: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200622-covid-19-sitrep-154.pdf?sfvrsn=d0249d8d_2. Accessed June 30, 2020.
• 2. Rodríguez-Morales AJ, MacGregor K, Kanagarajah S, Patel D, Schlagenhauf P. Going global - Travel and the 2019 novel coronavirus. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2020 Jan-Feb;33:101578. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101578.
• 3. Rodriguez-Morales AJ, Gallego V, Escalera-Antezana JP, Méndez CA, Zambrano LI, Franco-Paredes C, Suárez JA, Rodriguez-Enciso HD, Balbin-Ramon GJ, Savio-Larriera E, Risquez A, Cimerman S. COVID-19 in Latin America: The implications of the first confirmed case in Brazil. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2020 May-Jun;35:101613. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101613.
• 4. Lucero-Prisno DE 3rd, Adebisi YA, Lin X. Current efforts and challenges facing responses to 2019-nCoV in Africa. Glob Health Res Policy. 2020 May 6;5:21. doi: 10.1186/s41256-020-00148-1.
• 5. Makoni M. Africa prepares for coronavirus. Lancet. 2020 Feb 15;395(10223):483. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30355-X.
• 6. Kaseje N. Why Sub-Saharan Africa needs a unique response to Covid-19. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/why-sub-saharan-africa-needs-a-unique-response-to-covid-19/. Accessed June 30, 2020.
• 7. Rodríguez-Morales AJ, Sánchez-Duque JA, Hernández-Botero S, Pérez-Díaz CE, Villamil-Gómez WE, Méndez CA, Verbanaz S, Cimerman S, Rodriguez-Enciso HD, Escalera-Antezana JP, Balbin-Ramon GC, Arteaga-Livia FK, Cvetovikc-Vega A, Orduna T, Savio-Larrea E, Paniz-Mondolfi A, en nombre de LANCOVID-19. Preparación y control de la enfermedad por Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) en América Latina. Acta Méd Peru. 2020 Mar 31;37(1):3-7. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12356.78725.
• 8. Ríos AM. Latin America: COVID-19 deaths 2020, by country. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1103965/latin-america-caribbean-coronavirus-deaths/. Accessed June 30, 2020.
• 9. Rodríguez-Morales AJ, Suárez JA, Risquez A, Delgado-Noguera L, Paniz-Mondolfi A. The current syndemic in Venezuela: Measles, malaria and more co-infections coupled with a breakdown of social and healthcare infrastructure. Quo vadis? Travel Med Infect Dis. 2019 Jan-Feb;27:5-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2018.10.010.
• 10. The Lancet. The unfolding migrant crisis in Latin America. Lancet 2019; 394:1966. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736 (19)32934-4.
• 11. The Lancet. COVID-19 in Brazil: "So what?". Lancet. 2020 May 9;395(10235):1461. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31095-3.
• 12. Bagheri SH, Asghari A, Farhadi M, Shamshiri AR, Kabir A, Kamrava SK, Jalessi M, Mohebbi A, Alizadeh R, Honarmand AA, Ghalehbaghi B, Salimi A, Firouzabadi FD. Coincidence of COVID-19 epidemic and olfactory dysfunction outbreak in Iran. Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2020 Jun 15;34(1):446-52. doi: 10.34171/mjiri.34.62.
• 13. Wu F, Wang A, Liu M, Wang Q, Chen J, Xia S, Ling Y, Zhang Y, Xun J, Lu L, Jiang S, Lu H, Wen Y, Huang J. Neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in a COVID-19 recovered patient cohort and their implications. medRxiv 2020. doi: 10.1101/2020.03.30.20047365.
• 14. Oswald WE, Hunter GC, Lescano AG, Cabrera L, Leontsini E, Pan WK, Soldan VP, Gilman RH. Direct observation of hygiene in a Peruvian shantytown: not enough handwashing and too little water. Trop Med Int Health. 2008 Nov;13(11):1421-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2008.02177.x.
• 15. Casanova L, Rutala WA, Weber DJ, Sobsey MD. Survival of surrogate coronaviruses in water. Water Res. 2009 Apr;43(7):1893-8. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2009.02.002.
• 16. Miller MJ, Loaiza JR, Takyar A, Gilman RH. COVID-19 in Latin America: Novel transmission dynamics for a global pandemic? PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 May 7;14(5):e0008265. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008265.
• 17. McKintosh, K. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Epidemiology, virology, and prevention. UpToDate 2020.
• 18. Water and Sanitory Program. Latin American and the Caribbean. 2018 March 25, 2020. Available at: https://www.wsp.org/content/latin-america-and-caribbean. Accessed June 30, 2020.
• 19. van Doremalen N, Bushmaker T, Morris DH, Holbrook MG, Gamble A, Williamson BN, Tamin A, Harcourt JL, Thornburg NJ, Gerber SI, Lloyd-Smith JO, de Wit E, Munster VJ. Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. N Engl J Med. 2020 Apr 16;382(16):1564-7. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2004973.
• 20. Santarpia JL, Rivera DN, Herrera V, Morwitzer MJ, Crearger H, Santarpia GW, Crown KK, Brett-Major DM, Schnaubelt E, Broadhurst MJ, Lawler JV, Reid SP, Lowe JJ. Transmission potential of SARS-CoV-2 in viral shedding observed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. medRxiv 2020. doi: 10.1101/2020.03.23.20039446.
• 21. Rothe C, Schunk M, Sothmann P, Bretzel G, Froeschl G, Wallrauch C, Zimmer T, Thiel V, Janke C, Guggemos W, Seilmaier M, Drosten C, Vollmar P, Zwirglmaier K, Zange S, Wölfel R, Hoelscher M. Transmission of 2019-nCoV Infection from an Asymptomatic Contact in Germany. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 5;382(10):970-1. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2001468.
• 22. Yu P, Zhu J, Zhang Z, Han Y. A Familial Cluster of Infection Associated With the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Indicating Possible Person-to-Person Transmission During the Incubation Period. J Infect Dis. 2020 May 11;221(11):1757-61. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa077.
• 23. Bai Y, Yao L, Wei T, Tian F, Jin DY, Chen L, Wang M. Presumed Asymptomatic Carrier Transmission of COVID-19. JAMA. 2020 Apr 14;323(14):1406-7. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.2565.
• 24. Pan F, Ye T, Sun P, Gui S, Liang B, Li L, Zheng D, Wang J, Hesketh RL, Yang L, Zheng C. Time Course of Lung Changes at Chest CT during Recovery from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Radiology. 2020 Jun;295(3):715-21. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2020200370.
• 25. Song C, Wang Y, Li W, Hu B, Chen G, Xia P, Wang W, Li C, Hu Z, Yang X, Yao B, Liu Y. Detection of 2019 novel coronavirus in semen and testicular biopsy specimen of COVID-19 patients. medRxiv 2020. doi: 10.1101/2020.03.31.20042333.
• 26. World Health Organization. WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 11 March 2020. Available at: https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020. Accessed June 30, 2020.
• 27. World Health Organization. COVID-19 WHOAfricaUpdate. WHO Regional Office for Africa. [As of July 9, 2020]. Available at: https://twitter.com/WHOAFRO/status/1279770253036326918/photo/1. Accessed June 30, 2020.
• 28. Worldometer. Reported cases and deaths by country, territory, or conveyance. [As of July 9, 2020]. Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/. Accessed June 30, 2020.