Author(s)

Oluwagbemiga Olanrewaju Aina^1*, Olufemi Samuel Amoo², Kazeem Adewale Osuolale³, Adewale Kayode Ojogbede⁴, Azuka Patrick Okwuraiwe², David Ayoola Oladele⁵, Adesola Zaidat Musa³, Tajudeen Akanji Bamidele⁶, Celestina Onyinye Okoyenta¹, Abideen Olurotimi Salako⁵, Toyosi Yekeen Raheem⁶, Ifeoma Eugenia Idigbe⁵, Fehintola Anthonia Ige², Joseph Ojonugwa Shaibu², Gregory Aigbe Ohihoin⁵, Kikelomo Wright⁷, Bisola Adebayo⁷, Hussein Abdu-Razzaq⁸, Abdulrahman Ahmad⁹, Mustapha Imam¹⁰, Bashir Bello Tambuwal¹¹, Muhammad Shuaibu Gobir⁹, Richard Ikwuogu¹², Christian Tetsola¹², Gloria Patrick-Ferife¹², Nathaniel Enamuotor¹², Mildred Okowa¹², William Nwachukwu¹³, Cornelius Ohonsi¹³, Magdalene Egede¹³, Chinwe Ochu¹³, Ehimario Igumbor¹⁴, Oliver Chukwujekwu Ezechi⁵, Babatunde Lawal Salako⁵, Rosemary Ajuma Audu²

¹Biochemistry and Nutrition Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.
²Centre for Human Virology and Genomics, Microbiology Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.
³Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁴Public Health and Epidemiology Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁵Clinical Sciences Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁶Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁷Department of Community Health & Primary Health Care, Lagos State University College of Medicine, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁸Research Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁹Sokoto State Ministry of Health, Sokoto, Nigeria.
¹⁰Department of Medical Biochemistry Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria.
¹¹Centre for Advanced Medical Research and Training Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria.
¹²Delta State Ministry of Health, Asaba, Nigeria.
¹³Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Nigeria.
¹⁴Center for Infectious Disease Research, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Plasmodium species are the causative agents of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and malaria respectively with similar clinical presentations. The objective of this study is to determine the burden of co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 and malaria in the general population. Five (5 mLs) of blood samples were collected for SARS-CoV-2 and malaria parasite test. The malaria test was performed using a commercially available one-step malaria antigen Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (Pf HRP-II) rapid test kit. The results of the study showed that the participants that were coinfected with SARS-CoV-2 IgG and malaria were 13 (2.5%) in Lagos, 1114 (39.1%) in Delta and 49 (2.3%) in Sokoto States. The prevalence of coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and malaria in urban areas in Lagos, Delta and Sokoto States were 7 (2.2%), 1373 (48.1%), and 5 (0.2%) respectively. In rural areas, the prevalence of coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and malaria in Lagos, Delta and Sokoto States were 6 (0.3%), 365 (12.8%), and 44 (2.1%) respectively in this study. This suggests that participants in the urban areas were more prone to co-infections than the rural areas in Lagos and Delta states, while it was otherwise in Sokoto State. In conclusion, the co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 and malaria was very high in Delta State compared to the other States. It is important for clinics to screen for both diseases when patients present with symptoms of malaria. This is because the infections have similar symptoms and the public is quick to assume malaria infection without diagnosing for COVID-19 and vice versa.

SARS-CoV-2, Malaria, Coinfection

Aina, O. , Amoo, O. , Osuolale, K. , Ojogbede, A. , Okwuraiwe, A. , Oladele, D. , Musa, A. , Bamidele, T. , Okoyenta, C. , Salako, A. , Raheem, T. , Idigbe, I. , Ige, F. , Shaibu, J. , Ohihoin, G. , Wright, K. , Adebayo, B. , Abdu-Razzaq, H. , Ahmad, A. , Imam, M. , Tambuwal, B. , Gobir, M. , Ikwuogu, R. , Tetsola, C. , Patrick-Ferife, G. , Enamuotor, N. , Okowa, M. , Nwachukwu, W. , Ohonsi, C. , Egede, M. , Ochu, C. , Igumbor, E. , Ezechi, O. , Salako, B. and Audu, R. (2024) Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Coinfection with Malaria in Selected States in Nigeria. Advances in Infectious Diseases, 14, 442-455. doi: 10.4236/aid.2024.142031.