Pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 in Africa

Abstract

Purpose of review Three years into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, data on pediatric COVID-19 from African settings is limited. Understanding the impact of the pandemic in this setting with a high burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases is critical to implementing effective interventions in public health programs. Recent findings More severe COVID-19 has been reported in African settings, with especially infants and children with underlying comorbidities at highest risk for more severe disease. Data on the role of tuberculosis and HIV remain sparse. Compared to better resourced settings more children with multisystem inflammatory disease (MISC) are younger than 5 years and there is higher morbidity in all settings and increased mortality in some settings. Several reports suggest decreasing prevalence and severity of MIS-C disease with subsequent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant waves. Whether this decrease continues remains to be determined. Thus far, data on long-COVID in African settings is lacking and urgently needed considering the severity of the disease seen in the African population. Summary Considering the differences seen in the severity of disease and short-term outcomes, there is an urgent need to establish long-term outcomes in children with COVID-19 and MIS-C in African children, including lung health assessment.