Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Malaria-HIV link?

According to an article in the journal Science, scientists have discovered what they believe is a link between the two biggest natural killers in Africa.

Apparently, the way malaria and the HIV virus which causes AIDS may help each spread faster. The BBC explains:

When people with Aids contract malaria, it causes a surge of HIV virus in their blood, making them more likely to infect a partner, the research says.

Meanwhile people weakened by HIV are more likely to catch malaria.


Additionally, "In turn, the weakening of the immune system by HIV infection has fuelled a rise in adult malaria-infection rates and may have facilitated the expansion of malaria in Africa," said James Kublin of the Hutchinson Center.

1 Comments:

At 12:57 AM, Blogger John Powers said...

This post is a good example of how valuable your blog is to me and all the rest. Thanks so much!

 

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