Treating parasitic worm helps patients fight HIV
Eggs of the parasite that causes schistosomiasis, which affects
millions worldwide
Priya Shetty
14 November 2005
Source: SciDev.Net

Treating schistosomiasis — a disease caused by microscopic worms — can
boost the immune systems of people with HIV/AIDS, say researchers.

They say the finding suggests that schistosomiasis — or bilharzia —
suppresses our ability to fight infection. This might mean that
HIV/AIDS progresses faster in patients who are also infected by the
worms.

The Danish and Zimbabwean researchers published their findings online
in the 1 December issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

The researchers recruited two groups of schistosomiasis patients in
Zimbabwe, some of whom also had HIV. One group was immediately treated
for schistosomiasis, while the other had to wait three months for
treatment.

In HIV-infected people, the number of CD4 cells — which help fight
infection — is used as a measure of the infection's severity. The
higher the count, the better the individual is able to fight the
disease.

When patients in the study who had both diseases were treated for
schistosomiasis, their CD4 counts rose and the amount of HIV in their
bodies dropped. In those whose treatment was delayed, the CD4 count
did not improve and the amount of HIV in their systems continued to
rise.

The team found that CD4 cells also increased in people who did not
have HIV. They say this suggests that schistosomiasis suppresses the
immune system in everyone it infects.

The precise extent to which schistosomiasis speeds the development of
AIDS is still unknown, the researchers say. They call for more
research in African populations at risk of both diseases to determine
whether treatment for schistosomiasis should be incorporated into
HIV/AIDS therapy.

Link to full paper in The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Reference: The Journal of Infectious Diseases 192, 1956 (2005)