COVID-19 and Malaria: A Fatal Attraction for SARS CoV-2?

We examined trends and differences in the average cumulative rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths per million (incidence and mortality rates) among 11 Asian nations where malaria is endemic (China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines) and compared these trends and differences to 11 western nations (United States, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria) during the five month period, 1/1/2020-5/31/2020. The mean rates of incidence and mortality for the two sets of countries diverge markedly and as of May 31, 2020, the incidence and mortality rates for Asian countries (130 per million and 3.6 per million, respectively) were 1/27th and 1/89th of the corresponding rates for North American and Western European countries (3,481 per million and 321 per million). In contrast, annual incidence rates of malaria are negligible in North America and Europe whereas malaria is endemic in Southeast Asia (3.5 per 1,000). Chronic infections by malarial plasmodia induce interferons and neutralizing antibodies with proven impact against infection by the corona viruses responsible for SARS, MERS and COVID-19. Therefore, there may be natural immunity against infection by SARS CoV-2 in populations that have a longstanding history of widespread exposure to malarial infections. Such populations may be a valuable resource for development of effective vaccines and serological agents for the prevention and therapy of COVID-19.