ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
What Could Explain the Lower COVID-19 Burden in Africa despite Considerable Circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus?
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Global maternal mortality associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- [Health impact of COVID pandemic. SESPAS Report 2022].Gaceta sanitaria · 2022Pooled it
- Inequalities and determinants of unmet need for SARS-CoV-2 testing in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Madagascar (2020 - 2021).Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Manhiça district, Southern Mozambique.Population health metrics · 2026Article
- Pre-COVID-19 ex vivo cross-reactive IFN-γ cellular response to SARS-CoV-2 spike overlapping peptides is more prevalent among Kenyan compared to Swedish adults.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Overcoming Vaccine Inequities and Research Gaps in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities Identified During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- Article
- Sustaining transformative change in public health in Africa to achieve health development goals.Epidemiology and infection · 2025Article
- Population-based cross-sectional seroprevalence study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in urban residential areas in Ghana.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Sero-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Ethiopia: Results of the National Population Based Survey, 2021.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- COVID-19 inflammatory signature in a Mozambican cohort: unchanged red blood series and reduced levels of IL-6 and other proinflammatory cytokines.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Seroprevalence in Gabon: Findings from a Nationwide Household Serosurvey in a Sub-Saharan Africa Country.Viruses · 2024Article
- Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies and Associated Factors in Bamako, Mali: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study in September 2022.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2024Article
- Increased difficulty accessing food and income change during the COVID-19 pandemic among youth living in the eThekwini district, South Africa.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Narrative Review Explaining the Role ofInfectious disease reports · 2024Review
- Unraveling the effects of the Ebola experience on behavior choices during COVID-19 in Liberia: a mixed-methods study across successive outbreaks.BMC global and public health · 2024Article
- Perceptions around COVID-19 among patients and community members in urban areas in Cameroon: A qualitative perspective.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- The HIV/AIDS responses pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa: A basis for sustainable health system strengthening post-COVID-19.IJID regions · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The differential spread and impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), across regions is a major focus for researchers and policy makers. Africa has attracted tremendous attention, due to predictions of catastrophic impacts that have not yet materialized. Early in the pandemic, the seemingly low African case count was largely attributed to low testing and case reporting. However, there is reason to consider that many African countries attenuated the spread and impacts early on. Factors explaining low spread include early government community-wide actions, population distribution, social contacts, and ecology of human habitation. While recent data from seroprevalence studies posit more extensive circulation of the virus, continuing low COVID-19 burden may be explained by the demographic pyramid, prevalence of pre-existing conditions, trained immunity, genetics, and broader sociocultural dynamics. Though all these prongs contribute to the observed profile of COVID-19 in Africa, some provide stronger evidence than others. This review is important to expand what is known about the differential impacts of pandemics, enhancing scientific understanding and gearing appropriate public health responses. Furthermore, it highlights potential lessons to draw from Africa for global health on assumptions regarding deadly viral pandemics, given its long experience with infectious diseases.
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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.