COVID-19 and syndemic challenges in 'Battling the Big Three': HIV, TB and malaria

Thirumalaisamy P Velavan; Christian G Meyer; Meral Esen; Peter G Kremsner; Francine Ntoumi; PANDORA-ID-NET and CANTAM consortium

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2021.03.071

COVID-19 and syndemic challenges in 'Battling the Big Three': HIV, TB and malaria

Int J Infect Dis. 2021 May:106:29-32. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.03.071. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Authors

Thirumalaisamy P Velavan¹, Christian G Meyer², Meral Esen³, Peter G Kremsner⁴, Francine Ntoumi⁵; PANDORA-ID-NET and CANTAM consortium

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Tropical Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany; Vietnamese-German Center for Medical Research (VG-CARE), Hanoi, Viet Nam; Faculty of Medicine, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Viet Nam. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Institute of Tropical Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany; Vietnamese-German Center for Medical Research (VG-CARE), Hanoi, Viet Nam; Faculty of Medicine, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Viet Nam. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Institute of Tropical Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany; Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Gabon. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Institute of Tropical Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany; Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), Gabon. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Institute of Tropical Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany; Fondation Congolaise pour la Recherche Médicale (FCRM), Brazzaville, Congo. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

Indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have the potential to seriously undermine the health system in sub-Saharan Africa with an increase in the incidences of malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and HIV infections. Based on current evidence in the African region the collateral impact of COVID-19 on the "big three diseases" shall be addressed in the following.

Keywords: COVID-19; Challenges; HIV; Impact; Malaria; TB.

MeSH terms

Africa South of the Sahara / epidemiology
COVID-19 / epidemiology*
HIV Infections / epidemiology*
Humans
Incidence
Malaria / epidemiology*
Pandemics
Syndemic*
Tuberculosis / epidemiology*