Why is There Low Morbidity and Mortality of COVID-19 in Africa?
View/ Open
Date
2020Author
Njenga, M Kariuki
Dawa, Jeanette
Nanyingi, Mark
Gachohi, John
Ngere, Isaac
Letko, Michael
Otieno, C F Otieno
Gunn, Bronwyn M
Osoro 1, Eric
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
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.
Citation
Njenga MK, Dawa J, Nanyingi M, Gachohi J, Ngere I, Letko M, Otieno CF, Gunn BM, Osoro E. Why is There Low Morbidity and Mortality of COVID-19 in Africa? Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Aug;103(2):564-569. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0474. Epub 2020 Jun 1. PMID: 32484156; PMCID: PMC7410455.Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]
The following license files are associated with this item: