The Impact of HIV and Malaria Coinfection: What Is Known and Suggested Venues for Further Study

Table 1

Effects of coinfection with HIV and malaria.

Interactions
Type of Interaction	Pregnant women	Children	Adult men and nonpregnant women
Effect of HIV on malaria
• ↑ Risk of infection	+	?	+
• ↑ Parasite density	+	?	+
Effect of malaria on HIV
• ↑ Viral load	+	?	+
• ↑ Transmission	?	+	?
	(Data on vertical transmission to the fetus is contradictory)	(Through transfusion of unscreened blood for anemia)	(No definitive data, although ↑ viral load has previously been shown to correlate with ↑ sexual transmission)
Effects of dual infection
• ↑ Severity of illness	+	+	+
• ↑ Frequency and severity of anemia	+	+	+
• ↑ Frequency of low birth weight	+	N/A	N/A