The COVID-19 Prevalence among Children: Hypotheses for Low Infection Rate and Few Severe Forms among This Age Group in Sub-Saharan Africa
Despite some cases of severe or critical manifestations of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) described among children, the prevalence of this infection in the pediatric population is quite low worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Current data suggest indeed that, independent of the p...
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Published in | Interdisciplinary perspectives on infectious diseases Vol. 2021; pp. 1 - 5 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York
Hindawi
2021
Hindawi Limited Wiley |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Despite some cases of severe or critical manifestations of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) described among children, the prevalence of this infection in the pediatric population is quite low worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Current data suggest indeed that, independent of the population considered overall, severe and critical cases of COVID-19 are rare among children. This observation prompted us to discuss the possible hypotheses which could explain the low prevalence of COVID-19 among children; amongst others, we discuss (1) immunomodulation by the Bacillus Calmette–Guerin vaccine or by some parasitic infections such as malaria, schistosomiasis, and helminthiasis and (2) cross immunization with other coronaviruses commonly found in the sub-Saharan African setting. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 Academic Editor: Morteza Saki |
ISSN: | 1687-708X 1687-7098 |
DOI: | 10.1155/2021/4258414 |