Viral infections amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications and recommendations

doi:10.1002/jmv.27211

. 2021 Dec;93(12):6798-6802.

doi: 10.1002/jmv.27211. Epub 2021 Jul 22.

Viral infections amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications and recommendations

Olivier Uwishema^{1

2

3}, Irem Adanur³, Abdulhammed Opeyemi Babatunde^{4

5}, Mohammad Mehedi Hasan^{6

7}, Osman Kamal Osman Elmahi⁸, Kolawole Barakat Olajumoke^{9

10}, Abdullahi Tunde Aborode^{5

11}, Nzeribe Emmanuella^{12

13}, Ana Carla Dos Santos Costa¹⁴, Shoaib Ahmad^{15

16}, Mohammad Yasir Essar¹⁷

Affiliations

¹ Oli Health Magazine Organization, Research and Education, Kigali, Rwanda.
² Clinton Global Initiative University, New York, USA.
³ Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey.
⁴ Department of Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria.
⁵ Healthy Africans Platform, Research and Development, Ibadan, Nigeria.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Life Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail, Bangladesh.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, The Red-Green Research Centre, BICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁸ Faculty of Medicine, Ibn Sina University, Khartoum, Sudan.
⁹ Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, Nigeria.
¹⁰ Kwara State University, Malete, Ilorin, Nigeria.
¹¹ West African Academy of Public Health, Abuja, Nigeria.
¹² Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
¹³ Department of Child Health, Tamale Teaching Hospital Tamale, Northern Region, Tamale, Ghana.
¹⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
¹⁵ Department of Medicine and General Surgery, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
¹⁶ Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
¹⁷ Faculty of Dentistry, Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan.

PMID: 34260094
PMCID: PMC8426946
DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27211

Viral infections amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications and recommendations

Olivier Uwishema et al. J Med Virol. 2021 Dec.

. 2021 Dec;93(12):6798-6802.

doi: 10.1002/jmv.27211. Epub 2021 Jul 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Oli Health Magazine Organization, Research and Education, Kigali, Rwanda.
² Clinton Global Initiative University, New York, USA.
³ Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey.
⁴ Department of Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria.
⁵ Healthy Africans Platform, Research and Development, Ibadan, Nigeria.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Life Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail, Bangladesh.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, The Red-Green Research Centre, BICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁸ Faculty of Medicine, Ibn Sina University, Khartoum, Sudan.
⁹ Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, Nigeria.
¹⁰ Kwara State University, Malete, Ilorin, Nigeria.
¹¹ West African Academy of Public Health, Abuja, Nigeria.
¹² Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
¹³ Department of Child Health, Tamale Teaching Hospital Tamale, Northern Region, Tamale, Ghana.
¹⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
¹⁵ Department of Medicine and General Surgery, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
¹⁶ Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
¹⁷ Faculty of Dentistry, Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan.

PMID: 34260094
PMCID: PMC8426946
DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27211

Abstract

Viral infections have been on the rise for the past decades. The impact of the viruses worsened amidst the pandemic burdening the already overwhelmed health care system in African countries. This article sheds light on how the coronavirus together with the already existing viral infections, some of which re-emerged, impacted the continent. The strategies in place such as immunization, education, will have to be strengthened in all African countries to reduce the burden. Furthermore, governments can further collaborate with other countries in creating guidelines to reduce co-infection of the diseases.

Keywords: Africa; COVID-19; immunization; viral infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

Figures

**Figure 1**
A summary of challenges and recommendations to combat viral infections amid the COVID‐19 pandemic in Africa

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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[1] Chauhan RP, Dessie ZG, Noreddin A, El Zowalaty ME. Systematic review of important viral diseases in africa in light of the ‘one health’ concept. Pathogens. 2020;9(4). 10.3390/pathogens9040301 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[2] Chauhan RP, Dessie ZG, Noreddin A, El Zowalaty ME. Systematic review of important viral diseases in africa in light of the ‘one health’ concept. Pathogens. 2020;9(4). 10.3390/pathogens9040301 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[3] Usuwa IS, Akpa CO, Umeokonkwo CD, et al. Knowledge and risk perception towards Lassa fever infection among residents of affected communities in Ebonyi State, Nigeria: implications for risk communication. BMC Public Health. 2020;20(1):217. 10.1186/s12889-020-8299-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[4] Usuwa IS, Akpa CO, Umeokonkwo CD, et al. Knowledge and risk perception towards Lassa fever infection among residents of affected communities in Ebonyi State, Nigeria: implications for risk communication. BMC Public Health. 2020;20(1):217. 10.1186/s12889-020-8299-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[5] WHO Director‐General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID‐19—11 March 2020. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-genera.... Accessed April 30, 2021.

[6] WHO Director‐General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID‐19—11 March 2020. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-genera.... Accessed April 30, 2021.

[7] Aborode AT, Tsagkaris C, Jain S, et al. Ebola outbreak amid COVID‐19 in the Republic of Guinea: priorities for achieving control. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2021;104(6):1966‐1969. 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0228 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Aborode AT, Tsagkaris C, Jain S, et al. Ebola outbreak amid COVID‐19 in the Republic of Guinea: priorities for achieving control. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2021;104(6):1966‐1969. 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0228 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Phadke R, Mohan A, Çavdaroğlu S, et al. Dengue amidst COVID‐19 in India: The mystery of plummeting cases. J Med Virol. 2021;93(7):4120‐4121. 10.1002/jmv.26987 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[10] Phadke R, Mohan A, Çavdaroğlu S, et al. Dengue amidst COVID‐19 in India: The mystery of plummeting cases. J Med Virol. 2021;93(7):4120‐4121. 10.1002/jmv.26987 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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Viral infections amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications and recommendations

Affiliations

Viral infections amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications and recommendations

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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