Abstract:
Corona Virus-19 disease (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory syndrome caused by Severe
acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Since the first reported cases
in Wuhan China, COVID-19 has had a negative impact across the globe, namely
shutdown of schools, Air travel as well as lockdown of cities and countries. It has also
stretched the health care system to the brink of collapse, particularly in some European
countries and North America. Africa, surprisingly, continues to experience a low
COVID-19 burden despite having a weak health care system. Some of the strategies
currently being implemented to control COVID-19, face masks and hand hygiene, are
not disease-specific. This implies that the benefits of controlling COVID-19 are likely to
transcend beyond this global pandemic. This, therefore, raises important questions on
the plausible impact of COVID-19 control strategies on other infectious disease
transmitted via person-to-person contact. Review of studies conducted so far has
revealed that strategies beinig used in the fight against COVID-19 could reduce the
incidence of soil-transmitted helminths, diarrhoeal disease and respiratory disease. This
indicates that the present increased mobilization of resources towards provision of hand
hygiene facilities and education during the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to
behavioural change and help in the fight against gastrointestinal parasitic infections and
respiratory diseases that are still endemic in sub-Saharan Africa including Kenya. Non-
compliance to control measures may, however, undermine plausible benefits.
Governments must therefore seize this opportunity and leverage the attention to
personal hygiene as highlighted by COVID-19 to reinforce gastrointestinal parasitic
infections and respiratory diseases control. Additionally, efforts to estimate disease
incidence are needed to adopt control measures and ensure already limited resources
are utilized effectively for control of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases endemic
in Kenya and other African countries.
