A recent study published in the American Medical Association’s JAMA Pediatrics medical journal shows that children in sub-Saharan Africa are dying of Covid-19 at a much higher rate than children in Europe and the US.
The study was led by Professor Jean B. Nachega, an infectious diseases epidemiologist associated with South Africa’s own Stellenbosch University and the University of Pittsburgh in the US.
Nachega, who has played a vital role in the fight against HIV/Aids and TB on the continent, said that although the study looked at data from earlier in the pandemic, the situation has not changed much for the children of Africa – if anything, it is expected to be worsening with the global emergence of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
The study examined outcomes in 469 children who ranged in age from 3 months to 19 years and were hospitalised in one of six countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. A quarter of the children had pre-existing conditions. Eighteen had confirmed or suspected multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a severe complication of Covid-19 where different body parts become inflamed.
The study, which included investigators across all six African countries that provided data, found that 34.6% of hospitalized children were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) or required supplemental oxygen, and 21.2% of those admitted to the ICU required invasive mechanical ventilation. During the time frame studied, 39 – more than 8% – of the children died. This compares with rates between 1% and 5% that have been reported in high-income countries.