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Is COVID-19 Fatality Rate Associated with Malaria Endemicity?

DISCOVERIES (ISSN 2359-7232), 2020, October-December issue

CITATION: 

Arshad AR, Bashir I, Ijaz F, Loh N, Shukla s, Rehman UU, Aftab RKIs COVID-19 Fatality Rate Associated with Malaria Endemicity?. Discoveries 2020, 8(4): e120. DOI: 10.15190/d.2020.17


Submitted: October 11, 2020; Revised: October 31, 2020; Accepted: November 09, 2020; Published: December 11, 2020; 

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Is COVID-19 Fatality Rate Associated with Malaria Endemicity?

Abdul Rehman Arshad (1), Imtiaz Bashir (1), Farhat Ijaz (1,*), Nicholas Loh (2), Suraj Shukla (2), Ubaid Ur Rehman (2), Rana Khurram Aftab (3)

(1) CMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry (NUMS), Lahore, Pakistan 

(2) Flinders University, College of Medicine and Public Health. Adelaide, SA, Australia 

(3) Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore, Pakistan 


*Corresponding author: Dr. Farhat Ijaz, Department of Physiology, CMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore, Pakistan; Email: farhat_khurram_rana@cmhlahore.edu.pk

Abstract

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is a disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). COVID-19 has yielded many reported complications and unusual observations. In this article, we have reviewed one such observation: an association between malaria endemicity and reduced reported COVID-19 fatality. Malaria-endemic regions have a significantly lower reported COVID-19 fatality rate as compared to regions where malaria is non-endemic. Statistical analyses show that there is a strong negative correlation between the reported SARS-CoV-2 fatality and endemicity of malaria. In this review, we have discussed the potential role of CD-147, and potential malaria-induced immunity and polymorphisms in COVID-19 patients. Noteworthy, the results may also be due to underreported cases or due to the economic, political, and environmental differences between the malaria endemic and non-endemic countries. The study of this potential relationship might be of great help in COVID-19 therapy and prevention.

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