key: cord-0957939-kxxrdu4e authors: Musa, Salihu Sabiu; Zhao, Shi; Abdullahi, Zainab Umar; Habib, Abdulrazaq Garba; He, Daihai title: COVID-19 and Lassa fever in Nigeria: A deadly alliance? date: 2022-01-30 journal: Int J Infect Dis DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.058 sha: 69e30b6cf2a900e62976c179b7f24a07b6f496cb doc_id: 957939 cord_uid: kxxrdu4e As COVID-19 pandemic poses serious threats to public health globally, Nigeria faces a potential public health crisis due to the COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, such as Lassa fever (LF) and malaria. In this study we discuss the possible determinants behind the decreased number of LF cases in Nigeria, which was likely due to the synergetic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The LF's epidemic curve during the COVID-19 pandemic appeared deviant from the general seasonal scale in past years and was suspected due to under-reporting of cases. This is then argued as a consequence of partial compliance with nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), limited resources, or human behaviour. Thus, we suggest better differentiation in human- and resource-allocation for COVID-19 vs LF could help curtail the transmission effectively. As COVID-19 pandemic poses serious threats to public health globally, Nigeria faces a potential public health crisis due to the COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, such as Lassa fever (LF) and malaria. In this study we discuss the possible determinants behind the decreased number of LF cases in Nigeria, which was likely due to the synergetic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The LF's epidemic curve during the COVID-19 pandemic appeared deviant from the general seasonal scale in past years and was suspected due to under-reporting of cases. This is then argued as a consequence of partial compliance with nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), limited resources, or human behaviour. Thus, we suggest better differentiation in human-and resource-allocation for COVID-19 vs LF could help curtail the transmission effectively. Keyword: COVID-19, Lassa fever, Pandemic. COVID-19 has become one of the most dangerous pandemics that deployed severe problems to humanity in the past decades. SARS-CoV-2, a virus that caused COVID-19, Although the LF has a high mortality rate (especially in pregnancy), early treatment of symptoms by ribavirin and rehydration enhances survival (WHO Africa, 2021). There is currently no licenced vaccine for use against LF. However, there are few candidate vaccines in development, which, when ready, are expected to provide protection against LF infection and help prevent neurological complications and deafness caused due to LF. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has several vaccines against the infection, which helps in reducing morbidity and mortality cases. Therefore, controlling the diseases effectively requires substantial research and medical resources improvements. These could help increase reporting rate and, in turn, suppress COVID- The Determinants of the Low COVID-19 Transmission and Mortality Rates in Africa: A Cross-Country Analysis Substantial undocumented infection facilitates the rapid dissemination of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Mechanistic modelling of the large-scale Lassa fever epidemics in Nigeria from 2016 to 2019 Estimation of COVID-19 under-ascertainment in Kano, Nigeria during the early phase of the epidemics COVID-19 and Nigeria: putting the realities in context The potential public health consequences of COVID-19 on malaria in Africa World Health Organization. WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Dashboard World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa. Lassa fever Large-scale Lassa fever outbreaks in Nigeria: quantifying the association between disease reproduction number and local rainfall None. Not applicable. All the data used can be obtained in the public domain. The authors declared that they have no competing interests. None. All authors contributed equally. All authors declared that they have no competing interests.