ArticleInternational journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases2021
COVID-19 and Sudden Unexpected Community Deaths in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa - A Medico-Legal Whole-Body Autopsy Case Series.
Article in International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of Acute Pulmonary Embolism at Autopsy in Patients With COVID-19.The American journal of cardiology · 2022Pooled it
- Rethinking 'Probable Cause of Death': A comparative analysis of Physician-Certified Verbal Autopsy and Forensic Autopsy Outputs in community deaths in Lusaka, Zambia.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2025Article
- Superimposed Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) in a 26-Year-Old Female with No Underlying Co-Morbidities Recovering from COVID-19-Case Report.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Article
- Saddle pulmonary embolism in the setting of COVID-19 infection: A systematic review of case reports and case series.Open medicine (Warsaw, Poland) · 2023Review
- Emerging Viral Infections, Hypertension, and Cardiovascular Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Narrative Review.Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) · 2022Review
- SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and associated risk factors in periurban Zambia: a population-based study.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2022Article
- Knowledge and practices toward COVID-19 among healthcare students: A cross-sectional study at the University of Zambia.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Patients With COVID-19 and Chronic Chagas Disease: Implications to Prevent a Scourge Still Larger.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundData from Africa regarding sudden and unexpected COVID-19 community deaths and underlying pathological, demographic, and co-morbidity features require definition.
methodsWe performed a case series of COVID-19-related deaths seen at Forensic Post-Mortem examination of sudden and unexpected Community Deaths in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa. Whole-body Post-Mortem examinations were performed according to Standard Operating Procedures. Patient demographics, history, co-morbidities, pathological gross and microscopic findings, and cause(s) of death were recorded. Variables were grouped as frequencies and percentages. Comparison of data was made with autopsy findings of hospital COVID-19 deaths.
findingsOf 21 COVID-19 decedents, 14/21 (66.7%) were male; 18/21, (85.7%) were below 55 years of age (mean age, 40 ± 12.3; range, 20-73). The median duration of symptoms was 1 day (range 0-2); 9/21 (42.9%) had co-morbidities, with hypertension and obesity being the most common. Main post-mortem findings were diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) (80.9%), saddle and shower emboli (38.1%, respectively), and pneumonia (14.3%). Pulmonary thromboembolism (76.2%), DAD (14.3%), and SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia (9.5%) were common causes of death.
conclusionsCOVID-19 is an important cause of death to consider in forensic investigations of sudden and unexpected community deaths. Risk factors for the younger age of COVID-19 deaths and thromboembolism need to be identified.
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