The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to global health (1-3). The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to those of malaria, such as fever, myalgia, fatigue, headache, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Due to the heavy burden of medical services and the possible shortage of resources caused by the long-term COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of coinfection of malaria and COVID-19 is a matter of particular concern. Here we reported the first case of COVID-19 coinfection with Plasmodium ovale (P. ovale) malaria in a 47-year-old man who had been previously diagnosed with Plasmodium infection and incompletely treated with antimalarial drugs.The 47-year-old man worked from October 30, 2018 to December 16, 2020 in Masindi, Uganda, in an area dually affected by malaria and COVID-19. On December 19, 2020, the nasopharyngeal swab for COVID-19 virus testing using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and malaria rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) both had negative results when the patient returned from Uganda and entered Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China. However, on December 25, the nasopharyngeal swab for COVID-19 virus test result was positive, and the patient was admitted to a COVID-19 ward for further observation and symptom control on the next day. On December 29, the patient experienced chills, fever, muscle pain, and other clinical symptoms. On December 31, the results of blood smear test showed that the different blood stages of P. ovale, including trophozoites and schizonts, were consistent with P. ovale (Figure 1). In addition, the blood smear identified trophozoites of P. ovale with a parasitemia of 0.01%. The plasmodial ssrRNA (MW768131) and P. ovale sp. tryptophan-rich antigen (potra) (MW872056) gene were amplified by nested PCR, respectively (4-6). After sequencing, the protozoan was identified as P. ovale wallikeri (P. o. wallikeri).The patient's symptoms were mild and resolved completely after treatment with primaquine for 24
Background As of July 24 2020, the global reported number of COVID-19 cases was > 15.4 millions, with over 640,000 deaths. The present study aimed to carry out an epidemiological analysis of confirmed cases and asymptomatic infections in Shenzhen City to provide scientific reference for the prevention and control of COVID-19. Methods The epidemiological information of the 462 confirmed cases and 45 asymptomatic infections from January 19th to June 30th was collected in Shenzhen City, Southern China, and a descriptive analysis was performed. Results A total of 462 confirmed COVID-19 cases from January 19 to April 30, 2020 were reported in Shenzhen City, including 423 domestic cases (91.56%) and 39 imported cases (8.44%) who came back from other countries. Among domestic cases, the majority were cases imported from Hubei Province (n = 312, 67.53%), followed by local ones (n = 69, 14.94%). During the same period, a total of 45 asymptomatic infections were reported in Shenzhen City, including 31 local ones (68.89%) and 14 imported from abroad (31.11%). The proportion of asymptomatic infections in Shenzhen City was increasing over time (Z = 13.1888, P < 0.0001). The total number of local asymptomatic infections in Shenzhen City exceeded as the same pattern as that in other provinces (χ2 = 118.830, P < 0.0001). The proportion of asymptomatic infections among cases imported from abroad was higher than that of the same in domestic cases (χ2 = 22.5121, P < 0.0001, OR = 4.8983, 95%: 2.4052, 9.9756). No statistical significance was noted in the proportions of asymptomatic infections among imported cases from different countries (χ2 = 7.7202, P = 0.6561). Conclusions The majority of COVID-19 cases in Shenzhen City were imported cases who came back from Hubei Province in the early stage (before 1st March, 2020) and from abroad in the later stage (after 1st April, 2020). Scientific and effective prevention and control measures have resulted in only a few local infections in Shenzhen City. Asymptomatic infections accounted for an increasing proportion among cases imported from abroad, indicating that the prevention measures carried out in Shenzhen City did avoid the import of infected cases. Improving the detection capability to identify asymptomatic infections as early as possible will be of significance for the control outbreak of COVID-19.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
334 Leonard St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.