Allergy and immunology in Africa: Challenges and unmet needs

Abstract

The tremendous increase in allergy in the African continent cannot simply be explained by the change in public hygiene. There are many "prehygiene" communities with sewage-contaminated water supplies, helminth infestations, bare footedness, and poor housing, and still there is a high prevalence of allergic disease. Africans can be exposed to many risk factors facilitating severe asthma and wheezing, including airborne viruses, smoke, indoor dampness, cockroaches, and poor access to health care. Although the reporting on food allergy is inadequate to perform systematic reviews or meta-analyses, the available data suggest that food allergy is underdiagnosed. The rate of new HIV infections in high-prevalence settings in Africa remains unacceptably high. Although the annual number of new HIV infections in Sub-Saharan Africa has decreased lately, new HIV infections in the Middle East and North Africa region have increased; however, the current prevalence of 0.1% is still among the lowest globally. Africa is densely populated, and consanguineous mating is high in some areas of North and Sub-Saharan Africa. This allows for emergence of many autosomal recessive primary immunodeficiency diseases. There is urgent need for the establishment of primary immunodeficiency disease registries, stem cell transplantation facilities, and neonatal screening programs. To address these expanding problems and perform local cutting-edge research, Africans need to be empowered by motivated governments, dedicated funds, and compassionate scientific partnership.

Food allergies and perceptions towards food allergen labelling in Mauritius

“…There is still a paucity of research in less developing countries such as in the Africa region (Prescott et al, 2013). Africa is also burdened by infectious and non-communicable diseases and lack of recognition of allergy as a clinical specialty due to limited health care infrastructure (El-Gamal, Hossny, El-Sayed, & Reda, 2017;Potter et al, 2010). To date there are some reports of surrogate measures of food allergy such as self-reported reactions or sensitisation to food (Kung, Steenhoff, & Gray, 2014) such as those reported in Mozambique (Lunet, Falcao, Sousa, Bay, & Barros, 2005) and…”

Environmental Health Research in Africa: Important Progress and Promising Opportunities

“…A review by El-Gamal et al (2017) describes literature on a wide range of aeroallergens across Africa but data on indoor aeroallergens are not included in all regions. The authors note the importance of characterizing genetic susceptibility in the context of immunodeficiencies in Africa, which has not received sufficient research attention.…”

Newborn Screening for Primary Immunodeficiencies: The Gaps, Challenges, and Outlook for Developing Countries

“…Africa is a densely inhabited continent with an average inbreeding of around 35.4% (35) and surpassing 60% in parts of North and Sub-Saharan Africa (43). Although Africa is expected to have 988,000 PID cases, barely 2,500 patients have been diagnosed (36).…”

“…However, a steady rise in the number of reported PID cases is noticeable in between 2013 (1,463 patients) and 2018 (1,836 patients) with an increase rate of 25.6% (3). These advances are observed in countries where awareness programs are conducted such as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan (43).…”