AIDS, malaria may be linked

KISUMU, Kenya, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Malaria and AIDS, two of the biggest killers in Africa, may be linked, scientists in Kenya said.

The diseases may interact in such as way that they spread faster, researchers said in their published in Science. The findings demonstrated how other factors could influence the spread of HIV, researchers said.

When people with AIDS contract malaria, the HIV virus increases in their blood, making infecting a partner more likely, researchers said. People weakened by HIV are more susceptible to malaria. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

Their research in Kisumu, Kenya, led scientists to estimate that tens of thousands of HIV infections and millions of malaria cases could be linked to this co-infection, the BBC said Friday.

"This biological co-factor induced by malaria has contributed considerably to the spread of HIV by increasing HIV transmission probability per sexual act," said Laith Abu-Raddad, co-author of the study conducted by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington.

James Kublin, another co-author, said the HIV-weakened immune system has "fueled a rise in adult malaria infection rates and may have facilitated the expansion of malaria in Africa."