Greater Disease Severity and Worse Clinical Outcomes in Patients Hospitalised with COVID-19 in Africa

The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected every continent worldwide, impacting the lives of people everywhere. Recent data shows that up to two-thirds of all Africans have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19), which is higher than the global average of 45%. Africa was predicted to be one of the continents to be hardest hit by COVID-19, given the higher burden of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Tuberculosis (TB), and Malaria, with the addition of an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases. This, however, was not reflected in follow-up studies showing that deaths due to the virus 
were low, despite high case rates.

Factors such as a younger population, undertesting, and different demographics have been utilized to explain the differences in death rates [2]. This suggests that data regarding COVID-19 should, therefore, be interpreted specifically for the African region. Yet, the amount of research conducted in this area by authors who are affiliated with African research institutions remains low, with only 4.3% of authors being affiliated with Africa.  This paper has been published on Global Heart.