In Africa, too, the intensive care units were temporarily overcrowded with corona patients. But in the meantime the situation has calmed down in many places, although only very few people on the continent are vaccinated against Corona.
Science is puzzling over the corona miracle of Africa. New studies now show that in Africa the majority of the population has already been infected with the corona virus. Nevertheless, the number of corona deaths remains low compared to Europe or the USA.
Hospital in Kenya closed Corona ward
Those responsible at the MP Shah Hospital in Kenya’s capital Nairobi were even able to close the entire Corona ward recently. The head of the infection department, Shamsa Ahmed, says the «mirror»: “We haven’t had to admit a single patient in three weeks. It has never been so quiet since the beginning of the pandemic. ” Four months ago it looked completely different: three floors of the hospital were filled with corona patients.
In Kenya, a night curfew has now been lifted, the bars and clubs are open again, and people are dancing again. Nevertheless, there are only a few new infections – with a vaccination rate of six percent.
Fewer deaths than in Europe and the USA
The Kenyan epidemiologist Isaac Ngere, who works for Washington State University in the United States, studies the coronavirus in Africa. He is one of many scientists who have used antibody tests to measure how many people have become infected on the continent since the outbreak of the pandemic. Ngere tested thousands of residents in Kenya in several phases, including in the Kibera slum in the capital Nairobi. There the virus was able to spread largely unhindered because the residents were unable to adhere to corona measures.
“In May and June the infection rate there was 66 percent. That was before the violent delta wave. I’m sure that the values in Nairobi are now over 70 percent, ”says Ngere. “That’s almost herd immunity.” According to the report, Ngeres’ study also shows that case mortality at the time of the study was 20 times lower than in other countries, for example in Europe or the USA. “That’s astonishing,” says the scientist.
Young average age, comparable viruses
According to “Spiegel”, the World Health Organization (WHO) assumes that at least 40 to 50 percent of the population south of the Sahara have already been infected with corona. WHO vaccination expert Richard Mihigo: “There were obviously many asymptomatic courses, which probably contributed to the low mortality.”
The high level of contamination is probably one of the reasons why so few cases are currently being seen, says immunologist Ngere. One explanation for the comparatively few deaths could also be the young average age of the population. Diseases such as diabetes and obesity, which aggravate a corona infection, are also rarer in Africa than in Europe or the USA.
But the epidemiologist still has a suspicion: “Especially in Central and East Africa, there are many comparable viruses, including similar corona viruses. The residents are exposed to them much more frequently than in Europe, for example. We therefore assume that many have developed a kind of cross-immunity that now also protects against Sars-Cov-2. “
Statistical imponderables
Despite everything, the vaccination campaign must continue unchecked, says Ngere. After all, it is not known how long the protection of the natural antibodies will last.
In general, it must be noted in the investigations into Corona in Africa that there are great uncertainties about the available data. Ngere also admits this in his study. For example, it can be assumed that the actual death rates are much higher than officially reported – many dead are buried without the cause of death ever being investigated. In Kenya, for example, excess mortality is not even recorded statistically. (noo)
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