Acclaimed African Immunity or Resistance to Sars-Cov-2: Explore or Ignore?

Year 2021, , 141 - 144, 25.06.2020

Oluwanisola Onigbinde

https://doi.org/10.5455/umj.20210219111336

Abstract

Since late December 2019 to date, the world has continued in the fight against the recent most dreaded coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is ravaging the world. With the daily geometric increased in infected cases and death toll globally, it was predicted that Africa will suffer the most from the havoc of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This prediction could be traced to the dilapidated health care delivery systems, overcrowding, and the high rate of corruption in the continent. However, the claws of this virus seem to have spared the shores of Africa as the death toll in this continent is too low if compared with developed countries with state-of-the-earth facilities. This has led to Africans claim of immunity or resistance to SARS-CoV-2 and that the virus is a 'White man's virus'. Are Africans truly immune to SARS-CoV-2? Should this self-acclaimed immunity or resistance be explored or ignored? Hence this study.

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2, Africa, immunity, resistance, COVID-19

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