COVID-19 pandemic complexities on endemic infectious disease management and diagnosis in poor countries

Abstract

The persistence and frequency of prevalent infectious diseases continue to be a major problem on the African continent. Malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS are the most common infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria and tuberculosis have had a considerable negative impact on poor nations’ health, resulting in high mortality and morbidity. Fortunately, the World Health Organization’s introduction of the RTS, S/AS01 malaria vaccine may soon put an end to the lingering difficulties in malaria eradication, barring new contagious disease outbreaks like COVID-19. The literature reviewed looked at the current condition of endemic infectious illnesses in low-income countries from 2018 to 2022. Improvements in disease management and other mitigating strategies were evaluated alongside the resurgence of malaria, and particularly tuberculosis, the deadliest infectious disease of considerable global health concern in recent decades. The study’s focus was the destructive effects of COVID-19 on the treatment and prevention of infectious illnesses. PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were used as relevant databases. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant global impact on Africa, but not because the continent was directly impacted by the scourge and its fatal effects; rather, it did so by successfully forcing resource reallocation and diverting medical personnel to COVID-19 treatment, which in turn made TB, malaria, and HIV/AIDS-related problems worse. To halt the endemicity of these diseases and their potential intensification if a new pandemic like COVID-19 emerges in the future, enhanced efforts from all stakeholders, particularly in poorer climes, are required to be more inward looking and less reliant on foreign support.