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Immunity, parasites, genetics and sex hormones: contributors to mild inflammatory responses in COVID-19?

2020; African Field Epidemiology Network; Volume: 35; Issue: Supp 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.35.2.23267

1937-8688

Samuel Munalula Munjita, Mulemba Samutela, Kunda Ndashe, Sody Munsaka,

Immune responses and vaccinations

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has killed over two hundred thousand people by end of April, 2020. America and Europe top in deaths from COVID-19 whereas the numbers are lower in Africa for unclear reasons. Emerging evidence suggests the role of hyperactive immune responses characterised by high pro-inflammatory cytokines in severe cases of COVID-19 and deaths. In this perspective, we explore the possible factors that may contribute to mild inflammatory responses in some cases of COVID-19 by focusing on immune education, parasites, sex hormones and chronic diseases, as well as genetic tolerance. To build our perspective, evidence is also extracted from wild rodents due to their multi-tasking immune responses as a result of constant exposure to pathogens.