Faculty of Medicine, University of Gezira, Wad Medani, Sudan.
Malar J. 2020 Dec 23;19(1):457. doi: 10.1186/s12936-020-03541-w.
The incidence and mortality of COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization reports, shows a noticeable difference between North America, Western Europe, and South Asia on one hand and most African countries on the other hand, especially the malaria-endemic countries. Although this observation could be attributed to limited testing capacity, mitigation tools adopted and cultural habits, many theories have been postulated to explain this difference in prevalence and mortality. Because death tends to occur more in elders, both the role of demography, and how the age structure of a population may contribute to the difference in mortality rate between countries were discussed. The variable distribution of the ACEI/D and the ACE2 (C1173T substitution) polymorphisms has been postulated to explain this variable prevalence. Up-to-date data regarding the role of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ) in COVID-19 have been summarized. The article also sheds lights on how the similarity of malaria and COVID-19 symptoms can lead to misdiagnosis of one disease for the other or overlooking the possibility of co-infection. As the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the delivery of malaria services, such as the distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying, as well as malaria chemoprevention there is an urgent need for rapid and effective responses to avoid malaria outbreaks.
根据世界卫生组织的报告，COVID-19 的发病率和死亡率在北美、西欧和南亚与大多数非洲国家（尤其是疟疾流行国家）之间存在明显差异。尽管这种观察结果可能归因于检测能力有限、采用的缓解工具以及文化习惯，但已经提出了许多理论来解释发病率和死亡率的这种差异。由于死亡往往更多地发生在老年人身上，因此讨论了人口统计学的作用以及人口年龄结构如何可能导致国家间死亡率的差异。已经推测 ACEI/D 和 ACE2（C1173T 取代）多态性的可变分布可以解释这种可变的流行率。关于羟氯喹 (HCQ) 和氯喹 (CQ) 在 COVID-19 中的作用的最新数据已被总结。这篇文章还阐明了疟疾和 COVID-19 症状的相似性如何导致一种疾病被误诊为另一种疾病，或者忽略了合并感染的可能性。由于 COVID-19 大流行威胁到疟疾服务的提供，例如驱虫蚊帐 (ITN)、室内滞留喷洒以及疟疾化学预防的分发，因此迫切需要快速有效的应对措施以避免疟疾爆发。
