Possible Biochemical Impact of Malaria Infection in Subjects with HIV Co-Infection in Anambra State, Nigeria‪.‬

Introduction Malaria is endemic in Nigeria with stable transmission over the year and high prevalence of asymptomatic malaria has been reported in pregnant women in this region (1,2). The spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is also high within this area (3). Thus, we have shown evidence of malaria-HIV co-infection among the populace with prevalence of malaria parasitaemia being higher amongst symptomatic HIV infected subjects (3). The advent of HIV infection in the sub-Saharan Africa has also led to high prevalence of malaria infection in HIV subjects in areas with stable transmission (3,4) and unstable transmission (5,6). Presentation of severe malaria has been observed in HIV subjects with [CD4.sup.+] T-cell count less than 200 x [10.sup.6] cells/L (7). The risk was shown to be higher in non-immune malaria subjects who usually present with a high parasite and WBC counts (7). In our recent observation (3), we reported that prevalence of malaria infection is tripled amongst symptomatic HIV-infected subjects, however, the prevalence amongst the asymptomatic HIV-infected subjects was similar to that expressed by the apparently healthy HIV seronegative individuals within the same area. Hence, the present study was designed to determine the possible contributory impact of malaria parasitaemia on some biochemical markers in subjects with HIV co-infection.