DataSheet_1_Recent malaria does not substantially impact COVID-19 antibody response or rates of symptomatic illness in communities with high malaria a.pdf (1.63 MB)

DataSheet_1_Recent malaria does not substantially impact COVID-19 antibody response or rates of symptomatic illness in communities with high malaria and COVID-19 transmission in Mali, West Africa.pdf

dataset

posted on 2022-08-03, 09:53 authored by John Woodford, Issaka Sagara, Halimatou Diawara, Mahamadoun Hamady Assadou, Abdoulaye Katile, Oumar Attaher, Djibrilla Issiaka, Gaoussou Santara, Ibrahim H. Soumbounou, Seydou Traore, Moussa Traore, Oumar M. Dicko, Sidi Mohamed Niambele, Almahamoudou Mahamar, Bourama Kamate, Bayaya Haidara, Kourane Sissoko, Seydou Sankare, Sadio dite Koni Diarra, Amatigue Zeguime, Justin Y. A. Doritchamou, Irfan Zaidi, Alassane Dicko, Patrick E. Duffy

Malaria has been hypothesized as a factor that may have reduced the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. To evaluate the effect of recent malaria on COVID-19 we assessed a subgroup of individuals participating in a longitudinal cohort COVID-19 serosurvey that were also undergoing intensive malaria monitoring as part of antimalarial vaccine trials during the 2020 transmission season in Mali. These communities experienced a high incidence of primarily asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021. In 1314 individuals, 711 were parasitemic during the 2020 malaria transmission season; 442 were symptomatic with clinical malaria and 269 had asymptomatic infection. Presence of parasitemia was not associated with new COVID-19 seroconversion (29.7% (211/711) vs. 30.0% (181/603), p=0.9038) or with rates of reported symptomatic seroconversion during the malaria transmission season. In the subsequent dry season, prior parasitemia was not associated with new COVID-19 seroconversion (30.2% (133/441) vs. 31.2% (108/346), p=0.7499), with symptomatic seroconversion, or with reversion from seropositive to seronegative (prior parasitemia: 36.2% (64/177) vs. no parasitemia: 30.1% (37/119), p=0.3842). After excluding participants with asymptomatic infection, clinical malaria was also not associated with COVID-19 serostatus or symptomatic seroconversion when compared to participants with no parasitemia during the monitoring period. In communities with intense seasonal malaria and a high incidence of asymptomatic or mild COVID-19, we did not demonstrate a relationship between recent malaria and subsequent response to COVID-19. Lifetime exposure, rather than recent infection, may be responsible for any effect of malaria on COVID-19 severity.