Malaria infection in HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative individuals in Jos-Nigeria.

Infections by malaria parasite and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) represent major public health problems in many parts of the world. Both infections kill millions of people each year and both infections are scourges of developing nations in Africa, India, southeast Asia and South America1. In recent years, it has been hypothesised that a possible deleterious interaction between both infections exists. The presented hypothesis suggested that chronic latent malaria infection prepares the niche where otherwise feeble HIV infection can thrive and cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)2. However, an earlier critical review from numerous available reports on this subject showed that there were hardly evidences to support this hypothesis3. Depending on the perspective it is viewed, malaria has either a lot or very little in common with HIV. With shared geography and demographics especially in sub-Saharan Africa, co-infection is common, yet surprisingly few obvious clinical associations between HIV and malaria are reported in this region1.