By Our Reporter
The symptoms of Covid-19, malaria and other diseases are different in many ways, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Iheakweazu, has said.
Speaking in Abuja, recently, he explained that even though many diseases including Malaria, yellow fever and others, present similar symptoms, but that they are completely different.
According to him: ”I think we all know Covid-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a virus, Malaria is caused by a parasite. They are completely different diseases.
“However, many diseases present exactly the same way in the beginning, Yellow fever presents the same way with fever at the beginning, Lassa the same way, malaria the same way.
“So, the initial presentation of a febrille illness is similar across diseases.”
He further noted that there is no specific treatment for Covid-19, explaining that what clinicians do, “is to manage your symptoms so that your body recovers as quickly as possible.
“You can have Malaria and COVID-19. That you have COVID-19 doesn’t prevent you from having Malaria and if you are in a hospital for one month, you could definitely be co-infected by both of them.”
