ReviewTropical medicine & international health : TM & IH2021
Comorbidities and the COVID-19 pandemic dynamics in Africa.
Review in Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- COVID-19 pandemic-related mortality, infection, symptoms, complications, comorbidities, and other aspects of physical health among healthcare workers globally: An umbrella review.International journal of nursing studies · 2022Pooled it
- Increased Mortality with Comorbid Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus in Hemodialysis Patients with COVID-19.Acta medica Philippina · 2026Article
- Viral and Bacterial Etiology of Common Respiratory Infections in Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Rethinking the evidence on COVID-19 in Africa.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2025Review
- Article
- Deprioritized and disrupted: tuberculosis care in the shadow of COVID-19.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Co-infections of SARS-CoV-2 with respiratory syncytial virus and human influenza A in patients with symptoms of COVID-19 in Ghana: A retrospective study.New microbes and new infections · 2024Article
- Coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in metropolitan Johannesburg, South Africa: A qualitative study.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2023Article
- Climate and COVID-19 transmission: a cross-sectional study in Africa.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Intersecting epidemics: COVID-19 and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. A systematic review (2020-2022).Journal of public health in Africa · 2023Article
- Severity Status of COVID-19 and Its Associated Factors at the Nyarugenge Treatment Center in Rwanda.Cureus · 2023Article
- People's willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing in Nigeria: a cross-sectional survey.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Article
- Health care workers' self-perceived infection risk and COVID-19 vaccine uptake: A mixed methods study.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Thirty-Day Outcomes of Young and Middle-Aged Adults Admitted with Severe COVID-19 in Uganda: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Infection and drug resistance · 2023Article
- Characterization of COVID-19 cases in the early phase (March to July 2020) of the pandemic in Kenya.Journal of global health · 2022Review
- Multidrug resistant bacterial infections in severely ill COVID-19 patients admitted in a national referral and teaching hospital, Kenya.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Uptake of Plasmodium chabaudi hemozoin drives Kupffer cell death and fuels superinfections.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Analysis of COVID-19 mortality in patients with comorbidities in Côte d'Ivoire.Journal of public health in Africa · 2022Article
- Assessing the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and BCG vaccine cross-protection in the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in eastern Africa.BMC research notes · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The debate around the COVID-19 response in Africa has mostly focused on effects and implications of public health measures, in light of the socio-economic peculiarities of the continent. However, there has been limited exploration of the impact of differences in epidemiology of key comorbidities, and related healthcare factors, on the course and parameters of the pandemic. We summarise what is known about (a) the pathophysiological processes underlying the interaction of coinfections and comorbidities in shaping prognosis of COVID-19 patients, (b) the epidemiology of key coinfections and comorbidities, and the state of related healthcare infrastructure that might shape the course of the pandemic, and (c) implications of (a) and (b) for pandemic management and post-pandemic priorities. There is a critical need to generate empirical data on clinical profiles and the predictors of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. Improved protocols for acute febrile illness and access to diagnostic facilities, not just for SARS-CoV-2 but also other viral infections, are of urgent importance. The role of malaria, HIV/TB and chronic malnutrition on pandemic dynamics should be further investigated. Although chronic non-communicable diseases account for a relatively lighter burden, they have a significant effect on COVID-19 prognosis, and the fragility of care delivery systems implies that adjustments to clinical procedures and re-organisation of care delivery that have been useful in other regions are unlikely to be feasible. Africa is a large region with local variations in factors that can shape pandemic dynamics. A one-size-fits-all response is not optimal, but there are broad lessons relating to differences in epidemiology and healthcare delivery factors, that should be considered as part of a regional COVID-19 response framework.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.