The African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth) has published data that shows high rates of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality among children hospitalized with COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa.
The study, which was published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal, was conducted through collaboration under AFREhealth, a consortium of cross-disciplinary health personnel across Africa.
Conducted in six countries, including Ghana, the report revealed that the 8.3% mortality rate recorded among children hospitalized with COVID-19 in these countries was substantially higher than 1% or less mortality rates recorded from studies mostly in Europe and North America.
Poor outcomes, including death and needing supplemental oxygen were also independently associated with age younger than one year and comorbidities such as hypertension, chronic lung disease, and blood disorders such as sickle cell disease.
Other countries involved in the study were Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, with data collated from 25 health facilities from March 1 to December 31, 2020. In the case of Ghana, in particular, two facilities—the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) participated in the study.
The study reported findings from 469 children aged 3 months to 19 years; approximately 25% of whom had at least one comorbidity. About a third (31.6%) of the children required supplemental oxygen, and 15% were admitted to intensive care units, and one in five of children in intensive care required mechanical ventilation (life support). Ultimately, 39 (8.3%) of the children died in hospital.
The Ghana study was led by Dr. Evans Agbeno of CCTH and the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences (UCC SMS).
Other participating Ghanaian investigators included paediatricians Dr. Ella Amoako of CCTH and Dr.
Anthony Enimil of KATH.
Dr. Nadia Sam-Agudu is an Associate Professor of Paediatrics affiliated with the UCC SMS as well as the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She led the West Africa team and was a co-first author for the publication.
“The AFREhealth study brings several things to light: children aged zero to 19 years in Ghana and other
African countries are affected by COVID-19, and some have severe illness and need hospitalization.
Unfortunately, African children admitted with COVID-19 die at much higher rates than children with COVID-19 admitted to hospitals in higher-income countries.”
“We need to make COVID-19 vaccination available for Ghanaian children to protect them from severe disease and death, and we also need to improve our hospital facilities to provide more life-saving care for seriously ill children”, Dr. Sam-Agudu said.
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