Partially Funded by HHS, New Study Reveals Extent of HIV and Malaria Co-Infections in Africa

December 13, 2006 - The public health community has an intensified reason to consider the prevention of, and treatment for, interactions of malaria and HIV. New research results show that malaria, a mosquito-borne blood disease, could be fueling the spread of HIV in areas of sub-Saharan Africa, and HIV may play a role in increasing the rates of malaria infection in adults.

The study, published in the December 8, 2006 issues of Science by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, both in Seattle, found that malaria, which increases the viral load of an HIV-infected person on the order of 10 times, makes HIV more transmissible to a sex partner. Furthermore, the data suggest that HIV-infected persons could be more vulnerable to malaria because of their already-compromised immune systems.

The investigators were Laith J. Abu-Raddad, Ph.D., Padmaja Patnaik, Ph.D., and James G. Kublin, M.D., M.P.H. Using a mathematical model designed by Abu-Raddad based on HIV and malaria co-infection rates in the Republic of Malawi, measured and collected by Kublin, the team was able to assess the impact of each disease on the other. They estimate that tens of thousands of HIV infections and millions of malaria cases are likely the result of co-infection.

Using Kisumu, Kenya, with an adult population of about 200,000, for this study, Abu-Raddad estimates that five percent of all HIV infections stem from the heightened viral load induced by malaria, and that 10 percent of the adult malaria episodes are attributable to HIV. That would translate into 8,500 excess HIV infections and 980,000 excess malaria episodes since 1980.

The Center for AIDS Research at the University of Washington funded the study through the Mathematical Modeling Program for HIV/Sexually Transmitted Disease Research. The HIV Vaccine Trials Network at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center also provided partial support for this work. The HIV Vaccine Trials Network receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, of the National Institutes of Health, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

For more information:

• Study: Malaria May Fuel Spread of HIV While HIV May Boost Malaria Infection Rates in Some Areas of Africa (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)
• Clinical Trials (U.S. National Institutes of Health)

Last revised: August 15, 2007