Background: Despite the high infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, the incidence of COVID-19 in Africa has been slower than predicted. We aimed to investigate a possible association between parasitic infections and COVID-19. Results:Of the global 3.34 million COVID-19 cases and 238,628 deaths as at May 4 th 2020, Africa reported 0.029/3.3 million (0.88%) cases and 1,064/238,628 (0.45%) deaths. In 2018, Africa reported 213/229 million (93%) of all malaria cases, 204/229 million (89%) of schistosomiasis cases, and 271/1068 million (25%) of soil-transmitted helminth cases globally. In contrast, Europe reported 1.5/3.3 million (45%) of global COVID-19 cases and 142,667/238,628 (59%) deaths. Europe had 5.8/1068 million (0.55%) soil-transmitted helminths cases and no malaria/schistosomiasis cases in 2018. We found an inverse correlation between the incidence of COVID-19 and malaria (r -0.17, p =0.002) and COVID-19 and soil-transmitted helminths (r -0.25, p <0.001). Malaria-endemic countries were less likely to have COVID-19 (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.29-0.90; p =0.02). Similarly, countries endemic for soil-transmitted helminths were less likely to have COVID-19 (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.13-0.44; p <0.001), as were countries endemic for schistosomiasis (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.11-0.45; p<0.001). Conclusions:One plausible hypothesis for the comparatively low COVID-19 cases/deaths in parasite-endemic areas is immunomodulation induced by parasites. Studies to elucidate the relationship between parasitic infections and susceptibility to COVID-19 at an individual level are warranted.

Introduction Partner support is very important in alleviating the burden of infertility related stress and although understudied, partner coping patterns also play a key role in the other partner’s ability to cope with the infertility experience which eventually affects treatment outcomes. Very few studies more so in a low to middle income setting, explore the psychological and social aspects of infertility in men. There is a need for a deeper understanding into men’s perceptions, expectations and challenges of fertility treatment in our low resource setting. Objective To explore men’s perceptions, expectations, challenges and experiences during IVF treatment among men in a low resource setting. Methods A qualitative research design was utilised. The study was conducted at life sure fertility and gynaecology centre. The study participants were men participating in the IVF cycles. They were selected purposefully by maximum variation sampling. All the interviews took place on the day of enrolment for treatment and inductive content analysis was used to draw meaning from the transcripts. Ethical approval for the study will be sought from Nsambya Hospital IRB/REC. Results Seven major themes arose, and these included: (1) Societal influence on IVF treatment experience; (2) Social support during IVF treatment; (3) Feeling insignificant; (4) Financial burden; (5) IVF as an emotional bridge; (6) Inadequate sensitization; (7) Fear of treatment failure. Conclusion Men’s experiences during IVF treatment were negatively affected by the society’s perceptions of IVF treatment and infertility, cost of treatment, perceived men’s involvement and insufficient knowledge about the IVF process. However, spouse and friends’ support helped with coping and the IVF treatment experience strengthened emotional bonds. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40738-019-0058-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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