COVID-19 and dentistry in sub-Saharan Africa: an urgent need to strengthen preventive measures in oral health care settings

摘要

In December 2019, a new virus causing pneumonia called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV 2) appeared in the city of Wuhan in China [1]. Since then, the disease named COVID-19 has spread around the world and was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization. As of May 10, 2020, the number of cases is estimated to 3,917,366, with 274,361 associated deaths. Even if the number of cases increased gradually, Africa still remains the least affected continent with 42,626 cases to date and 1,369 deaths [2]. SARSCOV 2 is highly contagious, easily transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets from coughing, sneezing or by direct contact of contaminated hands (with the virus present on an inert surface) with the oral, nasal or ocular mucosa [3]. Transmission through saliva has been reported [4]. Symptomatic, asymptomatic as well as persons in the incubation phase of the infection, can be the vector of transmission of the disease to healthy individuals [3,5]. Thus, one of the global response strategies to curb down the burden of the disease has been to control the infection sources in order to reduce virus transmission risk.