The Pan African medical journal
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Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have attained significant reduction in measles incidence between 2004 and 2013. The Ebola outbreak in 2014-2015 in West Africa caused significant disruption of the health service delivery in the three worst affected countries. The magnitude of the impact on the immunization program has not been well documented. ⋯ The Ebola outbreak in West Africa significantly affected measles vaccination coverage rates in two of the three worst affected countries, and led to persistent gaps in coverage, along with high measles incidence that was documented until two years after the end of the Ebola outbreak. Liberia and Sierra Leone have demonstrated coverage improvements after the end of the Ebola outbreak.
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COVID-19 is a rapidly growing pandemic that has grown from a few cases in Wuhan, China to millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide within a few months. Sub-Saharan Africa is not spared. Radiology has a key role to play in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 as literature from Wuhan and Italy demonstrates. ⋯ We have noted that radiology does not feature in many main COVID-19 guidelines, regionally and internationally. This paper therefore suggests areas of collaboration for radiology with other clinical and management teams. We note from our local experience that radiology can play a role in COVID-19 surveillance.
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the purpose of our study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on health care activities and prescriptions at the Albert Royer National Children´s Hospital in Dakar, Senegal. ⋯ an average drop in external consultations of 33% was reported in the first quarter of 2020 (the pandemic period) compared to the first quarter of 2019. An increase in hospitalizations was observed mainly in the months of January and February. However, a drop of 11% was reported in the month of March. The same is true for prescriptions, for which a drop of 10% was reported only in the month of March.Conclusion: the current COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on outpatients´ consultations, health care activities and prescriptions at the Albert Royer National Children´s Hospital. Effective measures should be taken to prevent effects on mortality and Hospital activities.
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The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the development of a highly contagious disease called coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Ten months after the onset of the pandemic, America and Europe remain the most affected regions. ⋯ In this review, we discuss possible explanations and reasons for this unexpected low burden of COVID-19 in Africa. We focus on the characteristics of the virus, specificities of the sub-Saharan African population and local environment.