BEIJING, Dec. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study conducted
in Africa suggests malaria makes people more likely to contract AIDS and
vice versa.
Reseachers
studied disease patterns in 200,000 adults in Kenya and reported HIV makes
people more vulnerable to malaria by weakening their immune system and malaria
may worsen a patient's pre-existing HIV infection, possibly making it more
communicable.
The scientists discovered within this group that
about 5 percent of all HIV infections could be attributed to malaria, and 10
percent of all adult malaria episodes could be attributed to HIV. The study
suggests that malaria may be a contributing factor to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in
sub-Saharan Africa
"These are two elephants affecting public health in
Africa," said the study's lead author Leith Abu-Raddad of the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in Seattle. "Any interaction between them is
consequential. We can't yet say how many cases of HIV malaria has caused over
all of Africa."
Dual infection has created an estimated 8,500
new HIV cases and nearly a million malaria episodes since 1980, the researchers
said.
AIDS, the disease caused by HIV, and malaria are two
of biggest causes of death in sub-Saharan Africa, killing an estimated four
million people a year combined.
Scientists have known for some time that the immune
system suppression caused by HIV can increase both the risk and severity of
malaria infection.
But the idea that malaria might fuel the transmission
of HIV is more recent.
"Malaria cannot be the only reason why HIV has so
predominantly affected sub-Saharan Africa," said James Whitworth, a scientist
not involved in the study, of the medical research nonprofit Wellcome Trust in
London. "But it is certainly plausible that is has been an important cofactor in
driving transmission."
Malaria sufferers often experience repeated,
nonlethal outbreaks of the disease's flulike symptoms, with episodes varying in
severity.
Studies have shown that in people infected with both
diseases, the amount of HIV virus in their bodies goes up significantly during
these malaria episodes.
Other research has shown that as the amount of HIV
virus goes up, so does the likelihood of HIV transmission through sexual
intercourse.
These two factors together can make
HIV spread more rapidly in populations where malaria is present.
The discovery of a significant HIV-malaria link
suggests the need for a coordinated approach in fighting both diseases,
scientists say.
"It highlights the need to integrate health
programs," said Jonathan Mermin, a physician with the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention working in Kenya. "People with HIV should be provided
with insecticide-treated bed nets and [anti-malaria medications]."
"Efforts to prevent and eliminate malaria should be
increased, alongside efforts to prevent and treat HIV infection," he added.
(Agencies)
