School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
BMC Infect Dis. 2022 Jan 22;22(1):78. doi: 10.1186/s12879-022-07064-4.
Despite reports of malaria and coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) co-infection, malaria-endemic regions have so far recorded fewer cases of COVID-19 and deaths from COVID-19, indicating a probable protection from the poor outcome of COVID-19 by malaria. On the contrary, other evidence suggests that malaria might contribute to the death caused by COVID-19. Hence, this paper reviewed existing evidence hypothesizing poor outcome or protection of COVID-19 patients when co-infected with malaria.
PRISMA guidelines for systematic review were employed in this study. Published articles from December 2019 to May 2021on COVID-19 and malaria co-infection and outcome were systematically searched in relevant and accessible databases following a pre-defined strategy. Studies involving human, in vivo animal studies, and in vitro studies were included.
Twenty three (23) studies were included in the review out of the 3866 records identified in the selected scientific databases. Nine (9) papers reported on co-infection of COVID-19 and malaria. Five (5) papers provided information about synergism of malaria and COVID-19 poor prognosis, 2 papers reported on syndemic of COVID-19 and malaria intervention, and 7 studies indicated that malaria protects individuals from COVID-19.
Low incidence of COVID-19 in malaria-endemic regions supports the hypothesis that COVID-19 poor prognosis is prevented by malaria. Although further studies are required to ascertain this hypothesis, cross-immunity and common immunodominant isotopes provide strong evidence to support this hypothesis. Also, increase in co-inhibitory receptors and atypical memory B cells indicate synergy between COVID-19 and malaria outcome, though, more studies are required to make a definite conclusion.
尽管有疟疾和 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）合并感染的报告，但疟疾流行地区迄今为止记录的 COVID-19 病例和 COVID-19 死亡人数较少，表明疟疾可能对 COVID-19 的不良结局有一定的保护作用。相反，其他证据表明，疟疾可能导致 COVID-19 死亡。因此，本文综述了现有的证据，假设疟疾合并感染 COVID-19 时 COVID-19 患者的结局不良或得到保护。
本研究采用 PRISMA 系统评价指南。按照预先制定的策略，系统检索了 2019 年 12 月至 2021 年 5 月期间有关 COVID-19 和疟疾合并感染及结局的相关和可获得的数据库中发表的文章。纳入涉及人类、体内动物研究和体外研究的文章。
从选定的科学数据库中确定的 3866 条记录中，有 23 项研究被纳入综述。9 篇论文报道了 COVID-19 和疟疾合并感染的情况。5 篇论文提供了疟疾和 COVID-19 不良预后协同作用的信息，2 篇论文报道了 COVID-19 和疟疾的综合征干预，7 项研究表明疟疾可以保护个体免受 COVID-19 的侵害。
疟疾流行地区 COVID-19 发病率较低，支持 COVID-19 不良预后是由疟疾引起的假设。尽管还需要进一步的研究来确定这一假设，但交叉免疫和共同免疫显性同位素提供了强有力的证据支持这一假设。此外，共抑制受体和非典型记忆 B 细胞的增加表明 COVID-19 和疟疾的结局存在协同作用，尽管还需要更多的研究来得出明确的结论。
