SynthesisBMJ global health2022
Assessing the burden of COVID-19 in developing countries: systematic review, meta-analysis and public policy implications.
Synthesis in BMJ global health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 110 papers, 6 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.
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Who cites it
110 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Preferences for COVID-19 Vaccines: Systematic Literature Review of Discrete Choice Experiments.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Pooled it
- Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in low-and lower-middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Can evidence drive health equity in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond?Journal of public health policy · 2024Pooled it
- Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 seroassay sensitivity: a systematic review and modelling study.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2023Pooled it
- Age-stratified infection fatality rate of COVID-19 in the non-elderly population.Environmental research · 2023Pooled it
- Assessing the burden of COVID-19 in developing countries: systematic review, meta-analysis and public policy implications.BMJ global health · 2022Pooled it
- Agreement between seroprevalence- and model-based estimates of COVID-19 burden.Global health action · 2026Article
- Using forensic autopsy data to estimate the age-specific infection fatality risk of COVID-19.Epidemiology and infection · 2026Article
- Modernizing public health surveillance for global health security leveraging AI.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Review
- Geospatial analysis of COVID-19 vaccine access in Kenya: the interplay of travel time, perceived availability, and vaccine uptake.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Mortality risk during the COVID-19 pandemic is shaped by human development.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- Health equity and the global social contract: beyond incrementalism and illusionary solidarity.International journal for equity in health · 2026Review
- The mortality burden from COVID in low-income settings: evidence from verbal autopsies in India.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Viral emergence and pandemic preparedness in a One Health framework.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Editorial: Non-pharmacologic approaches to inflammation in the critically ill.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Provincial Disparities in the COVID-19 Burden: Hospital Data Analysis from Iran.Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2026Article
- A qualitative exploration of deterrents to COVID-19 vaccination uptake among adults in post-war Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Admission Hyperglycemia as an Early Predictor of Severity and Poor Prognosis in COVID-19: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Hospitalized Adults.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Changing socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence and case fatality rates of COVID-19 in Germany, March 2020 through May 2022: an ecological study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Mixed methods implementation research of oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries: a study protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
50 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe infection fatality rate (IFR) of COVID-19 has been carefully measured and analysed in high-income countries, whereas there has been no systematic analysis of age-specific seroprevalence or IFR for developing countries.
methodsWe systematically reviewed the literature to identify all COVID-19 serology studies in developing countries that were conducted using representative samples collected by February 2021. For each of the antibody assays used in these serology studies, we identified data on assay characteristics, including the extent of seroreversion over time. We analysed the serology data using a Bayesian model that incorporates conventional sampling uncertainty as well as uncertainties about assay sensitivity and specificity. We then calculated IFRs using individual case reports or aggregated public health updates, including age-specific estimates whenever feasible.
resultsIn most locations in developing countries, seroprevalence among older adults was similar to that of younger age cohorts, underscoring the limited capacity that these nations have to protect older age groups.Age-specific IFRs were roughly 2 times higher than in high-income countries. The median value of the population IFR was about 0.5%, similar to that of high-income countries, because disparities in healthcare access were roughly offset by differences in population age structure.
conclusionThe burden of COVID-19 is far higher in developing countries than in high-income countries, reflecting a combination of elevated transmission to middle-aged and older adults as well as limited access to adequate healthcare. These results underscore the critical need to ensure medical equity to populations in developing countries through provision of vaccine doses and effective medications.
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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.