FW: Malaria & HIV

[Guest guest]

This may be of interest to some of you working in the mentioned

areas.....

Dear all,

An interesting report on HIV & Malaria has just been published in

" Science " :

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/314/5805/1603?maxtoshow= &

HITS=10 & hits=10 & RESULTFORMAT= & fulltext=HIV & searchid=1 & FIRSTINDEX=0 & issue

=5805 & resourcetype=HWCIT

<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/314/5805/1603?maxtoshow=

& HITS=10 & hits=10 & RESULTFORMAT= & fulltext=HIV & searchid=1 & FIRSTINDEX=0 & issu

e=5805 & resourcetype=HWCIT>

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Science 8 December 2006:

Vol. 314. no. 5805, pp. 1603 - 1606

DOI: 10.1126/science.1132338

Reports

Dual Infection with HIV and Malaria Fuels the Spread of Both Diseases in

Sub-Saharan Africa

Laith J. Abu-Raddad,1,2* Padmaja Patnaik,3 G. Kublin4,5*

Mounting evidence has revealed pathological interactions between HIV and

malaria in dually infected patients, but the public health implications

of the interplay have remained unclear. A transient almost one-log

elevation in HIV viral load occurs during febrile malaria episodes; in

addition, susceptibility to malaria is enhanced in HIV-infected

patients. A mathematical model applied to a setting in Kenya with an

adult population of roughly 200,000 estimated that, since 1980, the

disease interaction may have been responsible for 8,500 excess HIV

infections and 980,000 excess malaria episodes. Co-infection might also

have facilitated the geographic expansion of malaria in areas where HIV

prevalence is high. Hence, transient and repeated increases in HIV viral

load resulting from recurrent co-infection with malaria may be an

important factor in promoting the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

1 Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention, Fred

Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.

2 Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of

Washington, Seattle, WA98195, USA.

3 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of

North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.

4 International Health Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

98195, USA.

5 Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,

Seattle, WA 98109, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: laith@...

<mailto:laith@...> (L.J.A.); jkublin@...

<mailto:jkublin@...> (J.G.K.)

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