Back at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, case numbers on the continent were still modest. But predictions and projections suggested the disease was going to cut a swathe through Africa.
The World Health Organisations Regional Office for Africa forecasted that up to 190,000 people could die in the first year of the pandemic if COVID-19 in Africa was not controlled.
Twelve months later, those dire forecasts have, largely, not been realized. By the end of April 2021, the total COVID-19 cases in Africa numbered 4,431,639, with some 117,934 deaths reported.
Several research journals have pointed to poor nutrition as a factor for the rise of the COVID-19 surge in Africa. Severe malnutrition is the most prevalent cause of immunodeficiency in the developing world.
These scientific journals have focused on malnutrition that leads to deficient levels of leptin, a kind of protein in the immune system. This lack of leptin, as seen in protein energy malnutrition, a deficiency of dietary protein despite sufficient calorie intake, affects many individuals.
Protein energy malnutrition is a global issue, and while the condition has decreased in Asia, African nations have reported a continued increase. Leptin is a hormone that is made in the fat cells of the body and has multiple roles in the immune system.
Leptin deficiency caused by malnutrition certainly does not protect a person from infection by the coronavirus causing COVID-19. But, based on the work of others in molecular medicine and immunology, experts suggest it might counteract the harm caused by the excessive inflammation that occurs with the COVID-19 disease. Of course, this would not be a reason to relax efforts to fight any form of malnutrition.
Leptin increases the body’s response to inflammatory cytokines—proteins that regulate inflammation. Malnutrition includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, protein deficiency), inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight conditions and obesity.
Experts know that malnutrition has been linked to changes in the immune system—this is especially so with protein energy malnutrition. The immune system of people with a balanced nutritional intake responds to infection by releasing cytokines. These are signaling molecules that instruct the immune system to attack invading microbes. Medical Express
