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MonitorPowerful5461 t1_j8d5snm wrote

Reply to comment by 1122334411 in Study links Covid-19 vaccination hesitancy in Africa to the use of media platforms that spread misinformation. The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa was accompanied by unprecedented and recurring waves of misinformation and disinformation. by Wagamaga

COVID infections rates in SSA are low, but far higher than the numbers, for a few reasons

  1. Good hygiene - diseases kill, without good hygiene you die
  2. Terrible data collection - governments do not have the capability to accurately assess how many citizens have COVID (nor do they want to)
  3. Being sick is considered shameful - if you’re sick with COVID, it’s perceived that that means you are “dirty”, and so people pretend they are not sick
  4. COVID is often mistaken for other diseases

This is true for a lot of diseases, not necessarily just in SSA. Malaria is one of the only “socially acceptable” diseases - it has a tendency to overshadow everything else since it is so common and devastating.

The thing with malaria is, even if it doesn’t kill you, it can make you incredibly tired for months on end. So you can’t work. And that in itself can kill you

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Coenclucy t1_j8lkp1v wrote

They get a lot of sun and vitamin D plays a big role according to science

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