Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Dec;103(6):2171-2173. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0791. Epub 2020 Sep 3.
Modern clinical trials have suggested that anemia protects against malaria mortality. Military records of the Second World War in Asia were examined to see if there was support for this hypothesis. When relatively well-nourished Imperial Japanese Navy sailors captured on Nauru ( = 799) were imprisoned on the Fauro Islands, 26% died from malaria. Similarly treated but very malnourished colocated Imperial Army soldiers experienced low stable malaria mortality. One-fifth of previously healthy Australian Army soldiers ( = 252) retreating from New Britain died largely because of malaria in April 1942. Malnourished prisoners of war, who were as a group very anemic, both Australian Army soldiers in Thailand and Japanese Army soldiers in Papua New Guinea, had high malaria rates but very low (< 3%) mortality rates. Malaria immunity does not adequately explain this dichotomy, suggesting that severe nutritional deprivation may be protective against malaria mortality possibly because of iron-deficiency anemia.
现代临床试验表明，贫血可预防疟疾死亡。研究人员查阅了第二次世界大战期间在亚洲的军事记录，以验证这一假设是否成立。在瑙鲁（=799）被俘的营养状况相对较好的日本帝国海军水手被关押在法罗群岛上时，有 26%的人死于疟疾。同样被关押在那里的营养状况很差的日本帝国陆军士兵患疟疾的死亡率却相对较低且稳定。1942 年 4 月，有五分之一从新不列颠撤退的健康的澳大利亚陆军士兵（=252）因疟疾而死亡。战俘普遍营养不良，其中澳大利亚陆军士兵在泰国，日本陆军士兵在巴布亚新几内亚，他们的疟疾发病率很高，但死亡率却非常低（<3%）。疟疾免疫力并不能充分解释这种二分法，这表明严重的营养剥夺可能对疟疾死亡率具有保护作用，这可能是因为缺铁性贫血。
