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The COVID-19 vaccines provide a high degree of protection against severe disease, hospitalisation, and death. However, no vaccine claimed 100% effectiveness and it is expected that a small proportion of vaccinated individuals may develop a breakthrough infection due to individual differences, virus variants and other factors. We conducted an epidemiological investigation and analysis of an imported case who had finished four doses of vaccination, and in order to provide a relevant reference for regular epidemic prevention and control in the post-pandemic era.
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Background. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chad has had 7,417 confirmed cases and 193 deaths, one of the lowest in Africa. Objective. This study assessed SARS-CoV-2 immunity in N'Djamena. Methods. In August-October 2021, eleven N'Djamena hospitals collected outpatient data and samples. IgG antibodies against SARSCoV- 2 nucleocapsid protein were identified using ELISA. "Bambino Gesu" Laboratory, Rome, Italy, performed external quality control with chemiluminescence assay. Results. 25-34-year-old (35.2%) made up the largest age group at 31.9 12.6 years. 56.4% were women, 1.3 women/men. The 7th district had 22.5% and the 1st 22.3%. Housewives and students dominated. Overall seroprevalence was 69.5% (95% CI: 67.7-71.3), females 68.2% (65.8-70.5) and males 71.2% (68.6-73.8). >44-year-old had 73.9% seroprevalence. Under-15s were 57.4% positive. Housewives (70.9%), civil servants (71.5%), and health workers (9.7%) had the highest antibody positivity. N'Djamena's 9th district had 73.1% optimism and the 3rd district had 52.5%. Seroprevalences were highest at Good Samaritan Hospital (75.4%) and National General Referral Hospital (74.7%). Conclusion. Our findings indicate a high circulation of SARS-CoV- 2 in N'Djamena, despite low mortality and morbidity after the first two COVID-19 pandemic waves. This high seroprevalence must be considered in Chad's vaccine policy.
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Background: COVID-19's restrictive measures have significantly affected our health, work and social relationships. As yet, less attention has been given to the changes in sex life. Aim: This study investigates people's satisfaction with sex life in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Methods: A cross-sectional survey of the general population (18 years and over) was conducted, from 1st to 18th July 2020, in 17 municipalities in Kinshasa and several measures were used: Quality of life MANSA, EQ-5D-3L, UCLA Loneliness;PHQ-9;GAD-7. Prior to conducting data analysis, diagnostic tests for our data were performed to assess distribution, variance and multicollinearity. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation and multiple regression analysis were used. Results: Sex life satisfaction increases from young adults aged 18- 35 to those aged 36-55 and then there is a decrease from ages 56-69. After controlling for socio-demographic factors, sex life satisfaction was positively associated with the number and quality of people's friendships (B=0.30, p=0.01) and people's relationships with their families (B=0.32, p=0.03). People who feel lonely have lower sex life satisfaction (B=-0.15, p=0.01). Conclusion: People's quality of their friendships and family relationships are important for their sexual well-being. Healthcare providers and policymakers should consider people's quality of friendships and family relationships when planning to improve the sexual well-being of people in DRC.
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Insights on the indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are critical for designing and implementing policies to alleviate the food security burden it may have caused, and for bolstering rural communities against similar macroeconomic shocks in the future. Yet estimating the causal effects of the pandemic is difficult due to its ubiquitous nature and entanglement with other shocks. In this descriptive study, we combine high-resolution satellite imagery to control for plot-level rainfall with household socio-economic panel data from 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020, to differentiate the effect of the pandemic from climatic shocks on food security in Morogoro, Tanzania. We find evidence of decreased incomes, increased prices of staple foods, and increased food insecurity in 2020 relative to previous years, and link these changes to the pandemic by asking households about their perceptions of COVID-19. Respondents overwhelmingly attribute economic hardships to the pandemic, with perceived impacts differing by asset level.
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Iron and zinc are important minerals in humans in sub Saharan Africa, whose deficiency is known as "hidden hunger" due to the lack of recognised symptoms in the early stages. Although iron deficiency is the most prevalent, zinc is also involved in inhibition of replication of viruses, including the corona virus (COVID-19). In North Kivu and South Kivu provinces where more than 50% of common bean is produced and consumed in Democratic Republic of Congo, 36% and 47% of preschool children are anemic due to iron deficiency. This paradox is mainly due to insufficiency of iron-rich foods. The aim of this study is to characterise 59 iron and zinc biofortified varieties together with six local varieties of common bean for a potential selection programme in Butembo town in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We focused on 15 qualitative and five quantitative parameters. The qualitative parameters were helpful to distinguish the different morphotypes and for cluster analysis. In addition to the descriptive statistics, the quantitative data were used for Pearson correlation and for principal component analysis, PCA. Qualitative parameters enabled grouping of the study genotypes into 14 morphotypes according to the aspect and colour of the seed coat, the colour around the hilum and the size of seeds. Clustering grouped the 65 genotypes into 12 clusters with the most similar genotypes grouped in the same cluster. Quantitative parameters showed that the study genotypes were dissimilar (P=0.00). A positive correlation was obtained between the days to flowering and the days to maturity (P<0.05) and between the number of pods per plant and the days to flowering. A strong correlation was found between the number of pods per plant and seeds per pod (P<0.01). In contrast, a negative correlation was observed between the 100 seed weight and the number of seeds per pod. The PCA represented on two perpendicular axes showed 64.1% of the total variance of which the 42.3% is explained by the first axis and 21.8% by the second axis. Overall, the study genotypes are morphologically and quantitatively different and thus can be used in a selection programme.
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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic shook the world, claimed a lot of lives, incapacitated many, and forced majority of the world into a lockdown. Vaccination is the key strategy to tackling the virus. Objectives: To ascertain the level of vaccination and the difficulties associated with vaccination, among clinical medical students in Enugu, South-East Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A multistage sampling was used to select 160 respondents while questionnaires (hard and soft copy) were administered to the participants. The IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used for data entry and data analysis. Results: There was a poor (16.3%) knowledge, negative perception (66.3%), and poor uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine (20.6%). There were statistically significant relationships between vaccination status, knowledge of vaccine, age, and perception of the vaccine (P=0.000) as well as between level of training and vaccine perception (P=0.03). Conclusion: There was very low level of COVID-19 vaccination in the study population that may be attributable to the low knowledge of the vaccine and the high negative perception. The rush to development of the vaccine, possible side effects, and possible long-term complications may be contributory to the poor uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among the study respondents.
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The National Public Health Institutes (NPHI), members of the Latin American Regional Network of the International Association of National Institutes of Public Health, met face to face at the headquarters of the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, in the City of Cuernavaca, from October 5 to 7, 2022, with the participation of the directors or their representatives of the NPHIs of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru and Suriname and representatives of the South American Sub regional Program (SAM), and the Central American Sub regional Program (CAM) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Organization of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (OTCA), the Andean Health Agency/Hipolito Unanue Agreement (ORAS/CONHU) and the Central American Integration System (SICA/COMISCA), analyzing the role of the NPHI in combating health inequities;in confronting the global climate and environmental crisis;combating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition;successes and challenges in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic;strengthening and continuous improvement of integrated disease surveillance and preparedness for health emergencies;as well as the various existing regional and sub-regional health cooperation programs, noticing that: 1. In the current scenario, the dominating development model is a generator of growing social inequalities, which determine serious inequities in the health conditions of our peoples. 2. Likewise, the current model of production and consumption, adopted at the global level, has increased hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition that possibly constitute nowadays the main health problem in our region. 3. The environmental crisis, which is also a product of the current global development model, has a significant impact on human and animal health and the interaction between both. 4. The NPHIs have played a role of major relevance in confronting the Covid-19 pandemic, not fully applying, however, their full potential for research and for proposing national plans for the disease control. 5. Health surveillance systems, in most of our countries, suffer from significant fragmentation between various sectors and within the health sector itself, implying, in any case, reactive actions that do not allow for anticipating the emergence of new pathologies or health emergencies. 6. The various regional and sub regional cooperation agencies and programs offer an enormous capacity for synergies and mutual cooperation.
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Income of farming households with low socio-economic status is a task in emerging nations, rural parts of Nigeria inclusive. In connection with this, the entrance of Covid-19 pandemic posed a grave risk to the economy of the households. This study, therefore, investigate the coping strategies in mitigating Covid-19 pandemic's effect on the farming households' income. Data for the paper were collected from 150 farming household heads, through multistage sampling method, with the use of interview scheduled and analysed using appropriate statistics. The findings showed that many (57.3%) of the respondents were male. The widely practiced coping strategies during the pandemic were rationed spending (=2.63), job diversification (=2.40), reduction in hired labour (=2.36), household food rationing (=2.28) among others. There is substantial relationship between household size (r = 0.075, p = 0.003), annual income (r = 0.033, p = 0.004) and coping strategies practiced at p0.005. It was concluded that the pandemic had great effect on the income of the farming household. The study recommends formulation of necessary, effective and urgent policies for assisting and generating fresh employments and revenue producing prospects for affected households.
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This special issue contains 11 s that discuss recent learnings and developments in healthcare financing from a global perspective. The s cover a range of topics such as the impact of mental illness on poverty and catastrophic health expenditure in India, financing challenges in the American healthcare industry, comparative analysis of health system financing in India and Saudi Arabia, and the contribution of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme to inequality in healthcare utilisation. Other s explore the influence of socio-economic status on health financing choices in Jambi Province, households' willingness to pay for community-based health insurance in Bangladesh, and changes in household expenditures during the first wave of COVID-19 in India. The issue also includes discussions on managing the provider-purchaser split in India and reconsidering patient value to create better healthcare.
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The emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) has been a cause for serious concern worldwide due to its high rate of transmission and number of mutations. During genomic studies in South Africa and Botswana in November 2021, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 was identified associated with a rapid resurgence of infections in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Omicron variant was identified as a type of concern by the World Health Organization after sequence uploads of the first genome. It was subsequently identified in 87 countries within three weeks. The Omicron variant is a very exceptional virus carrying more than 30 mutations in the spike glycoprotein that are predicted to affect antibody neutralization and spike function. Omicron is highly contagious and spreads faster than previous variants, but may cause less severe symptoms than previous variants. Omicron variant can evade the immune system. It can also evade the vaccine responses developed against COVID-19. Rapid and careful preventive steps, including vaccination, will always be a key for suppression of the Omicron variant. This review summarizes the highly mutated regions, core infectiousness, vaccine elimination, and antibody resistance of the Omicron variant of SARSCoV-2.
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On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and, in March 2020, began to characterize it as a pandemic in order to emphasize the gravity of the situation and urge all countries to take action in detecting infection and preventing spread. Unfortunately, there is no medication that has been approved by the FDA, gone through controlled studies and demonstrated an effect on the virus for this global pandemic. Although there are cures for illnesses and developments made by leaps and bounds in our day, the strongest and most effective weapon that society has against this virus is the prevention of its spread. The main points in preventing the spread in society are hand hygiene, social distancing, and quarantine. With increased testing capacity, detecting more COVID-19 positive patients in the community will also enable the reduction of secondary cases with stricter quarantine rules. Treatment with the use of plant extracts and vaccination are also control measures that are implemented in Cameroon. This review will focus on the prevention and control measures applied in Cameroon to combat the spread of the pandemic.
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In the last two years, Cameroon has faced five waves of COVID-19, with its fourth wave of the B.1.1.529 Omicron variant in December 2021 and subsequently hosted the African Cup of Nation of Football Men's competition that gathered thousands of people from across the world in January 2022 with no increase in the number of cases/deaths. A fifth wave of BA.4, and BA.5 Omicron variants was seen in August 2022. The country as claimed 123 785 cases, 121 633 recovered and 1960 death by 30th September 2022. Despite a low vaccination coverage of 8.7% the country has seen a limited impact of COVID-19 as compared to the international prediction. The response of Cameroon focused in limiting the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 in the population, reducing the morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 and limiting the socio economic impact of the COVID-19 in Cameroon. The contextualized Cameroonian response was based on an important epidemiologic surveillance relying on mass testing strategy and adaptative measure that ensure the continuity of the of planned mass gathering activities including hosting the African Cup of Nations of Football in the COVID-19 context and the continuity of education. While the COVID-19 has shown some weakness in the health system it has been an opportunity to show its resilience and the opportunity for strengthening the health system including the implementation of a genomic surveillance platform. The lessons learnt from COVID-19 including the importance of coordination through the Public Health Emergency Operating Centre will help the country to address the future public health emergencies and move toward cholera elimination by 2030.
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Background: The proportion of COVID-19 vaccination in Africa countries remains lower than other low and middle-income countries around the world. This rate is much lower in sub-Saharan Africa especially Cameroon. The low rate among these countries is attributed to vaccine hesitancy, mainly due to misinformation about vaccine origin, efficacy, and safety and the use of local herbs. Methods: From January to April 2022, we gathered latest experiences and opinions on four vaccine hesitancy-related areas, namely policies, perceived low risk, religious factors and use of local herbs in Cameroon in particular and some selected African countries in general;from published information in the literature. Results and recommended local solutions: The report mentions that political influences, religious beliefs and low perceived risk exists, vaccine safety and effectiveness and consumption of local herbs do contribute to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, collectively. Systematically monitoring the drivers of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, implementing tailored interventions promoting vaccine acceptance, and evaluating the impact of these interventions reduce vaccine hesitancy drastically.
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In the context of a developing country like Cameroon characterized by the scarcity of financial resources and the appearance of Covid-19, this article shows that this pandemic was not more important than the pre-existing health problems to the point of giving it more importance in funding compared to strengthening the health system. The theoretical elasticity model of the poverty rate to growth is used to estimate the impact of Covid-19 and the incidence of impoverishing health expenditure is used for the impact of common diseases. It is estimated through direct health payments that common diseases push about 340,865 people into extreme poverty annually. The Covid-19, through the loss of growth generated between 4.8 and 6.6 points according to the optimistic or pessimistic scenarios, would impoverish between 224,193 and 398,565 people: impact on the number of poor ranging from 0.7 to 1.2 times that of all common diseases, i.e., equivalent on average, but sensitive to the speed of spread of the virus and the duration of the crisis while the impact of common diseases is structural and linked to the poorly performing health system. The solutions proposed are endogenous and linked to the impact mechanisms.
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Due to various policies measures to curtail the virus, one of which was lockdown, the occurrence of COVID-19 had a negative impact on the nation's economy, especially the rural smallholder farmers. The study looked into how Covid-19 lockdowns affected Nigerian vegetable production. Descriptive statistics, budgetary approaches, multiple regression analysis, and a Likert scale were all used for the analysis. The findings show that most of vegetable growers in the research region were married women (88.33%). About 70% of respondents have completed at least their primary education. The multiple regression analysis results disclosed that number of extensions contact, farm size, market access and transportation cost were significantly affected the level of vegetable production with positive sign while household size had a negative effect on the vegetable production. The findings also showed that after the COVID-19 lockdown, vegetable production was extremely profitable in the study area, with an average gross margin of 82,836.04 that was statistically higher than the 60,709.97 gross margin generated from vegetable production during COVID-19 and the 71,234.91 gross margin generated prior to COVID-19. The constraints faced by vegetable farmers during the covid - 19 restrictions include: high cost of transportation, price fluctuation, and high cost of input, perishability of the produce and lack of improved seeds. It was concluded that Covid 19 pandemic has greater effect on vegetable production in the study areas.
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This brief review, which was presented as an introduction to the CAS/IAP/NASCA Workshop on scientific evidence response to the COVID-19 in Cameroon and Africa, covers the classification of viruses based on the coding nucleic acid type, the structure of the genomes of corona viruses that have infected humans in the 21st century ie SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. It is recalled that SARS-CoV-2 has a genome size of 29.8 kb very similar to those of SARS-CoV (29.10 kb) and MERS-CoV (30.1kb). The functions of main proteins featuring on surface the SARS-COV-2, namely, spike (S), membrane (M) and the envelope (E) protein as well as the nucleocapsid (N) protein that is expressed in the core of the viral particle were described. An overview of the pathogenesis showed that the three viruses cause similar symptoms, the most severe of them being the severe respiratory syndrome that could lead to death. A deep understanding of the roles of the viral proteins has facilitated the development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and drugs to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The review also cites COVID-19 vaccines currently approved by the WHO as well as patent drugs in current usage and points out that none of these were developed in Africa, which is why local capacity has to be built to better combat the current and future pandemics.
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The COVID-19 outbreak which started in 2019 in China, turned out to be a deadly, infectious worldwide pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 affects the respiratory system, symptoms including cough, fever and shortness of breath. Upon infection, there is an uncontrolled release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome, and even death. The shutdown of economies during the outbreak made acquisition of nutritious foods difficult, exposing the world to malnutrition. This was worse in underdeveloped countries where there is poor hygiene and poor healthcare systems. A good and balanced nutrition strengthens the immune system, with fruits and vegetables enhancing the anti-inflammatory responses and regulating chronic diseases which are risk factors for COVID-19. In Cameroon, decoctions against COVID-19 made from medicinal plants and foods were widely used. This included 'star yellow', a sauce formulated and used for its role in the control of the transmission of SARSCOV-2. Star yellow contains a combination of palm oil and limestone, which exposes viral RNA to zinc attacks. It also possesses anti-viral and antioxidant properties which inactivates the viral particles in the gut thus stopping the possible transmission of the SARSCOV-2 virus via faeces.
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Facing the unprecedented burden and rapid spread of the Covid-19 pandemic across the globe, responses from various regions have been exceptionally quick. Drug discovery has been essentially based on repurposing, particularly at the onset of the scourge. Several experimental models have been designed ranging from in vitro cell culture systems to nonhuman primates;however, each with advantages and limitations. It was revealed beside its detrimental consequences on health, economy and the society, Covid-19 has also provided opportunity to highlight the immense potential of traditional medicine as a valid alternative for addressing major health threat. The African traditional medicine has been instrumental for the control of the COVID-19 pandemic in the continent, in situation of extremely low vaccination coverage. For optimal and sustainable use of traditional medicine, we strongly recommend products be developed following the WHO standards, while taking into consideration sustainability, environmental protection and copyright issues surrounding the natural product-based drug research and development.
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COVID-19 lockdown, targeted at preventing the spread of coronavirus, had deleterious effects on physical and psychosocial health. This study examined the association between physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), loneliness and quality of sleep of 507 Nigerian adults during the COVID-19 lockdown. Five hundred and seven respondents (aged 18-67 years) from 12 States completed an online survey on RedCap. Questionnaires comprising the Stages of Change scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, International Sedentary Assessment Tool, UCLA Loneliness Questionnaire, Short Form-12 Health Survey, and International Physical Activity Questionnaire were used. Respondents were categorised based on exercise behaviour as non-exercisers, non-regular exercisers, or regular exercisers;and based on age into 18-24, 25-34, 35-44 and > 44 years categories. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. About 33.1% of respondents did not meet moderate-to-vigorous PA levels. The physical component of HRQoL was positively associated with total PA (p = 0.04). Among the non-exercisers, the odds of being regular exercisers during pre-COVID-19 lockdown were significantly higher for the 35-44 (odds ratio [OR] = 3.49;95% CI = 1.44, 8.48, p = 0.01) and > 44 years age groups (OR = 2.98;95% CI: 1.16, 7.62, p = 0.02) relative to 18-24 years age category. During COVID-19 lockdown, > 44 (OR = 3.65;95% CI: 1.47, 9.07, p = 0.005), 35-44 (OR = 6.42;95% CI 2.75, 14.96, p = 0.001) and 25-34 (OR = 2.35;95% CI: 1.15, 4.80, p = 0.02) years age categories had significant higher odds of being regular exercisers compared to the 18-24 years age group. There was a high rate of physical inactivity among Nigerian adults during the COVID-19 lockdown, which was directly influenced by the physical components of HRQoL. Older age was an independent predictor of exercise behaviour before and during the COVID-19 lockdown among Nigerian adults.
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Cold storage is expensive for smallholder farmers and seed processors in developing countries. Smallholder farmers continue to resort to traditional storage methods such as polypropylene (PP) bags for maize grain storage. They often dose the grains with chemicals to preserve them. However, hermetic bags have proven to provide superior protection to grains during storage without chemical treatment. With the advent of the COVID-19 virus which distorted many food systems across continents, stakeholders in the grain industry need to adopt better systems to reduce post-harvest food loss and improve food security. In this study, maize grain quality, nutritional content and viability were compared under three storage methods (PP bags with Phostoxin treatment, cold storage, and hermetic bag) over a storage period of four months. The results showed that the hermetic bag maintained the moisture content (MC) of the stored grains with 0.40% variations from the initial MC of 13% at the end of the storage period compared to 0.70% and 1.10% for grains stored under cold storage and in PP bags, respectively. Grain damage after the 4th month of storage in the hermetic bag had only increased by 0.40% from an initial 13.3% before storage compared to an increase of 6% for cold storage, which was attributed to unstable power during the storage period, and 4.30% for grains stored in the PP bag. Carbon dioxide concentration in the hermetic bag was maintained at about 11% throughout the storage period indicating low microbial activity. The hermetic bag technology was identified as the best option for quality preservation during storage of maize grain over the other methods, and its adoption by smallholder farmers in Ghana should be considered.