Extracts from a news item on the WHO Africa Regional Office website, and a comment from me below. Full text: https://www.afro.who.int/news/over-two-thirds-africans-exposed-virus-whi...
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Up to 65% of Africans have been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, a World Health Organization (WHO) analysis finds. The study finds that true infections on the continent were 97 times larger than reported confirmed cases...
Africa has had milder COVID-19 cases compared with other parts of the world because there is a comparatively smaller proportion of people with risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension and other chronic diseases that are associated with more severe cases and deaths. Africa’s youthful population is also a protective factor.
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COMMENT: It is logical that fewer risk factors and younger population account for less severe disease. It's also likely that some cases of severe disease and death were not diagnosed. Has WHO (or other authoritative body) published an analysis of this issue, or are the reasons for Africa's apparently lower disease burden still debated?
Best wishes, Neil
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Global Coordinator HIFA, www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org
