Occurrence and clinical features of HIV and malaria in co-infected individuals in Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and malaria infections are among the major public health concerns in sub-Saharan Africa, where they are associated with high morbidity and mortality. The study was conducted to assess the occurrence and clinical features of HIV and malaria in co-infected individuals in Osun State, Nigeria. Methods: The study was cross-sectional, which involved 422 participants who were administered structured questionnaires for socio-demographic and clinical data. Venous blood was collected for malaria parasite detection and count from One hundred and seventy-four HIV seropositive individuals. They were re-examined clinically for HIV diagnosis, CD 4 + T cell counts, and packed cell volume (PCV). Results: The mean age of the participants was 28.48 ± 15.38 while the overall predominance of malaria among the HIV-positive patients was 11.5% (20/174). The malaria prevalence was significantly higher in female patients ( P = 0.0088) and occupational status among students ( P = 0.0001). Malaria/HIV co-infected patients had a significantly lower mean value of PCV ( P = 0.0001), CD 4 + cell count (0.0001), and temperature (0.0001) compared to HIV-infected patients having no malaria. Conclusion: The study showed that females had relatively higher malaria infection compared to their male counterparts. To achieve better management of HIV patients against malaria infection, proper preventive measures, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and chemoprophylaxis are a useful strategy to put in place. Also, the monitoring of CD 4 + cell count, viral load, and some hematology indices on a regular basis is crucial.

HIV/malaria co-infection and its determinants among people living with HIV/AIDS in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria

“…This finding conflicts with those made byJohn et al (2020) in Calabar, Nigeria,Ejike et al (2020a, b) in Uyo, and Tagoe and Boachie (2012) in old Cross River State, who showed that co-infection with HIV and malaria lowers CD4 T cell numbers in patients. The CD4 of the HIV patient who had malaria was high in this study, and this difference was significant (p = 0.02), as has been seen in several earlier investigations(Ojurongbe et al, 2014;Tay et al, 2015;Oyeniran et al, 2022). Some studies have also distinguished malaria from a low CD4 count in HIV-positive people(Tchinda et al, 2012;Ojurongbe et al, 2014).…”

“…Hence, this could explain the relationship between viral load and malaria infection, where risk rises with viral load. Though no statistically significant correlation between ART-related HIV/Malaria co-infection was discovered in this study, this could be due to the patient's immune systems being reformed by the medications they were given, demonstrating the effectiveness of ART, as well as the administration of co-trimoxazole as part of their chemotherapy, which is known to have some antimalarial components, reducing the incidence of malaria in HIV-infected people (Oyeniran et al, 2022). This observation is consistent with research on CTX's ability to protect against HIV infection when combined with other preventive methods (Iroezindu et al, 2012).…”

“…However, only the CD4 count was found to be related to co-infection with malaria in HIV patients. Education level and occupation were additional variables that could confound or affect the association (Oyeniran et al, 2022); however, this study came to different conclusions.…”