Malaria and COVID-19 in Malarial Endemic Area: Incidence and Coincidence

Abstract

Indeed, the incidence of COVID-19 in the studied malarial endemic province is significantly less than other areas of the country. Focusing on details, districts where malaria is endemic usually have a lower incidence of malaria than the district where malaria is not endemic. Whether there is any possible biological mechanism of Plasmodium spp. against severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 is interesting question. Also, whether it is an effect of local malaria chemoprophylaxis is an issue for further researching. However, an interesting observation is no coincidence of malaria and COVId-19. The co-infection is reported in some literatures (3,4). However, we found no coincidence. Based on the local, national prevalence of malaria and COVID-19 are 3.18 and 0.22 per 100,000 local populations, respectively (data according to local CDC, https:// ddc.moph.go.th/), coinfection should be possible. Further real-world epidemiological study for association between malaria and COVID-19 is recommended.