Hôpital St Camille de Ouagadougou, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Medicus Mundi Italia, CMA St Camille, Nanoro, Burkina Faso.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2023 Jun 12;109(2):460-465. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0714. Print 2023 Aug 2.
Although the numbers of SARS-CoV-2 infections and related deaths are relatively low in sub-Saharan Africa, the pandemic might lead to a high indirect death toll there. We determined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of malnourished children in urban and rural areas. We analyzed data from two Centers for Rehabilitation, Education & Nutrition (CRENs), one in the capital and one in a rural center, both run by the Camillian Fathers. We compared data from the year before the pandemic (2019) with the first 2 years during the pandemic (2020/2021). In the urban CREN, there was a sharp reduction in new patients enrolled, from 340 in the pre-pandemic year to 189 during the first pandemic year and 202 in the second year. The follow-up was significantly shorter during the first pandemic year, with a rebound in the second year (pre: 57 days versus 42 and 63 days for the first and second years, respectively). In the rural CREN, the situation was different: The numbers of patients did not show any significant variation between the pre-pandemic year (191) and the first and second pandemic years (223 and 179, respectively). Different perceptions of the pandemic in urban (high, more testing, more COVID) and rural (low, less information and testing) areas may partly explain this difference. The discrepancy between the decreasing numbers of malnourished children in specialized care during the pandemic-especially in the urban area-is contrary to the lockdown-induced increase in food insecurity and warrants attention to avoid an increase in the silent epidemic of malnourished children in Africa.
尽管撒哈拉以南非洲地区的 SARS-CoV-2 感染和相关死亡人数相对较少，但大流行可能导致那里的间接死亡人数居高不下。我们确定了 COVID-19 大流行对城市和农村地区营养不良儿童管理的影响。我们分析了两个康复、教育和营养中心（CREN）的数据，一个位于首都，一个位于农村中心，均由卡米利安神父运营。我们比较了大流行前一年（2019 年）和大流行期间的前两年（2020/2021 年）的数据。在城市 CREN，新入组的患者数量急剧减少，从大流行前一年的 340 人减少到第一年的 189 人和第二年的 202 人。第一年大流行期间的随访时间明显缩短，第二年有所反弹（前：57 天与第一年和第二年的 42 和 63 天相比）。在农村 CREN，情况则不同：与大流行前一年（191）和第一年和第二年（分别为 223 和 179）相比，患者数量没有明显变化。城市（高，更多检测，更多 COVID）和农村（低，更少信息和检测）地区对大流行的不同看法可能部分解释了这一差异。大流行期间专门护理中营养不良儿童人数的减少（尤其是在城市地区）与封锁导致的粮食不安全增加形成鲜明对比，需要引起重视，以避免非洲营养不良儿童的无声流行加剧。
