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Review
. 2020 Dec 11;8(4):e120.
doi: 10.15190/d.2020.17.

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
Affiliations
Review

Is COVID-19 Fatality Rate Associated with Malaria Endemicity?

Abdul Rehman Arshad et al. Discoveries (Craiova). .

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.

Keywords: ACE2; CD147; COVID-19; IFN-γ; Malaria; Plasmodium; SARS-CoV-2; case fatality rate; endemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Comparative Worldwide Distribution of Malaria and COVID-19
A. Worldwide distribution of malaria; reproduced from Rabinovich RN et al., with permission; B. Worldwide distribution of COVID-19; reproduced from reference, with permission.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Relation Between Malaria Cases/Million and COVID Cases/Million
Reproduced from Muneer A et al., with permission.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Relation Between Malaria Cases/Million and Case Fatality Rate (%)
Reproduced from Muneer A et al., with permission.
Figure 4
Figure 4. CD-147 as a common receptor for plasmodium and SARS-2-coronavirus; potential action of azithromycin in COVID-19
Reproduced from Ulrich H et al., with permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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