Where did you catch malaria ?
No...thalassemia is thought to have evolved to protect against malaria. I supposedly have a lot of neanderthal DNA . They have found thalassemia in creatures from long ago. Minoans on the island of Crete. G6pd also has a malaria connection.
You don’t get it from malaria. Genetics to help deal with malaria. My blood work always looks nasty like I have a bad case of anemia. When Drs try to prescribe iron I have to remind them I am a carrier for a disease that requires transfusion
During first days of Covid Italy saw thalassemia people not getting it as bad..which is opposite of what you would think. Not sure what current studies have to say about the connection