Emergence of New Strains of Sars - Cov - 2: Africa’s Fate and Its Preparedness Against Covid - 19 Infection Wave

Abstract

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus - 2 ( SARS - CoV - 2) has infected over 100 million individuals worldwide with diverse impacts on nations. The rising cases of n ew strains and resultant infection waves create an urgent need to assess the readiness of countries especially in Africa to mitigate the impact on community transmission. This paper delivers a brief synopsis of the novel SARS - CoV - 2, emerging cases of new v ariants reported worldwide, and implications for genetic surveillance of disease transmission in low - and middle - income countries ( LMICs) especially Africa. Materials and Methods: Literature search used keywords like SARS - CoV - 2; COVID - 19 epidemiology; pan demic waves; corona outbreak, clinical syndromes, treatments, prevention and control. Cross - sectional and observational studies published on COVID - 19 from 2019 till date of study provided main information sources. Databases such as Web of Science, Embase, PubMed and Google Scholar were utilised. Main findings: Over 220 countries have documented COVID - 19 cases with varied severity till date. Before the spikes in resurgence, a highly virulent mutated (>90% fatality rate) novel strain of COVID - 19 had been doc umented. There is very little data to ascertain the impact of the COVID - 19 infection waves in LMICs. Discussion: LMICs especially African countries still grapple with significant challenges like inefficient surveillance mechanisms, inadequate vaccination c overage, inadequate enforcement of environmental health strategies, poor health systems etc. Hence, Africa’s fate remains dicey in the face of the dynamic evolution of the SARS - CoV - 2 and other identified challenges. Conclusion: The adoption of a multidis ciplinary approach to mitigate the impact of emergence of mutant SARS - CoV - 2 variants and resurgence of infection spike is recommended.