Is Corona Virus (COVID-19) Different From Malaria?
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been the topic of discussion worldwide, for the past 7 months.
Hence so many questions are coming. There are many misconceptions and many questions too.
I decided to write this because of the mindset I perceived from our people.
They actually believe, that COVID-19 and malaria are the same.
My parish priest even said it. That’s he has suffered his own coronavirus and have recovered, that it is same thing with the malaria we are used to.
Well, I just have to put up this post to clear the air on the relationship between coronavirus COVID-19 and malaria.
Is coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) and malaria the same thing?
The answer is NO. Covid and malaria are not the same thing.
COVID-19 is caused by a virus , malaria is caused by a protozoan
I will explain further :
There are four major classes of microorganisms that cause infection
1. Bacteria
2. Virus
3. Fungi
4. Protozoa
Bacteria
Examples of bacteria are, staphylococcus, streptococcus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Neisseria gonorrhea that causes gonorrhea, etc.
Drugs used to treat bacterial infections are called antibiotics .Am sure you have heard of antibiotics alot.
So antibiotics work against only bacteria. They do not work against virus, fungi, or Protozoans. Hope thats clear?
Viruses
Examples of viruses are, HIV, LASSA, SARS cov-2 (COVID-19 virus)
Note: The name of the virus is SARS COV 2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). The name of the disease is COVID-19.
Hope you get it? The virus is not COVID-19, but you may refer it as COVID-19 virus or SARS COV 2.
The drug used to treat viral infections are called antivirals.
Protozoans
Examples of protozoans ,Plasmodium.
Plasmodium is the organism that causes malaria . Not mosquito. The Plasmodium is found inside the mosquito, and the job of the mosquito is to bite you and inject Plasmodium into your blood. The mosquito on its own cannot cause malaria.
Fungi
Example is candida, that causes candidisis. Their drugs are called antifungals.
Malaria vs COVID-19
So you can see that there is not even any resemblance.
One is caused by a protozoan, the other is caused by a virus – two totally different classes of microorganisms.
One is transmitted by only mosquito bites, the other cannot be transmitted by mosquitoes.
So you see? They are very different!
But I understand anyways, the reason people tend to classify both together is due to their symptoms.
Both present with closely related symptoms.
Symptoms of malaria
1. Fever
2. Tiredness or fatigue
3. Chills and rigor
4. Headache…..
COVID-19 presents almost with the above
Symptoms of COVID-19
fever
dry cough
tiredness
aches and pains
sore throat
diarrhoea
conjunctivitis
headache
loss of taste or sense of smell
a rash on skin of any part of your body
Pink or reddish discolouration of fingers or toes
The confusion on malaria vs COVID-19
1. The symptoms look alike. A Peron suffering from COVID-19 will present like someone with malaria. So people tend to place their judgement based in whaT they feel and not on reality.
But I believe this article should be an eye opener to this effect.
2. The purported use of Chloroquine, a known antimalarial drug as a cure for COVID-19 .
Well I will not blame any non-medical persons much if this is the logic they are operating with. Because if a drug can cure two disease, it means the two are related .
But the truth is, even though chloroquine is used as part of the emergency treatment of COVID-19, it does not work by the same mechanism it works in malaria.
In malaria, it kills the Plasmodium particles, but in COVID-19 it does not kill the virus particle, because it is not an antivirus, it only limits the inflammation going on in your body.
I hope it’s clear now. COVID-19 is different from malaria despite the fact that chloroquine is used in both.
3. The already existing mentality of Nigerians. In Nigeria today, once someone is sick, Malaria and typhoid will be treated first before anything else.
It’s really a belief I don’t even know how to start eliminating.
The most annoying part is they always put the two together (I have malaria and typhoid) as if they have anything in common that cause them.
Our lab people have not tried in this regard too. This is story for another day.
So I believe it is clear now. That COVID-19 is a disease of its own, and malaria on its own. They are not relations.
Pls do these 5 things for me if you can: LIKE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE, SHARE, DROP A TESTIMONY