Does malaria enhance HIV transmission?
Both malaria and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are endemic in many parts of the world. People with HIV infection are more susceptible to malaria due to their depressed body immunity. But does malaria enhance HIV transmission and accelerate the disease progression? James G Kublin from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center from Seattle, USA, and his team conducted a prospective cohort study in Malawi (Africa) to find out the changes in concentration of virus (virus load) in HIV-infected adults who didn t have malarial infections at the time of enrolment. The underlying idea was that the malarial parasite causes an increase in enzymatic activities that might promote HIV virus replication and, thereby, increase the HIV virus load. Individuals with increased HIV virus concentration in blood transmit the infection more effectively and have accelerated progression of the clinical disease. The researchers were of the opinion that a better understanding of this concept is necess
