Co-infection of malaria and HIV infection in severely undernourished children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a cross-sectional study

Purpose This study aims to determine the prevalence of malaria and HIV seropositivity among children with undernutrition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Methods A cross-sectional study of undernourished children aged between 12 and 60 months in Kalembe-Lembe hospital was carried out. Blood samples were collected for the analyses of malaria parasite, haemoglobin and haematocrit levels. HIV serostatus was determined with rapid HIV antibody tests and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify clinical predictors of HIV seropositivity. Results Of 225 children, 88.9% had malaria; the parasite loads were 16 000 para per mu L (38.0%); 24 400 para per mu L (56.8%), P < 0.001 and malaria and associated HIV infection accounted for 29.2%. In children aged >12 months, HIV seroprevalence was 29.3%; 86.0% had undernutrition and malaria, 6.8% had undernutrition and HIV and 4.3% had undernutrition, HIV and malaria (P < 0.001). The occurrence of at least three or more symptoms was highly specific (96.4-100.0%) for HIV seropositivity (P < 0.05). The overall mortality rate was 18.4%, higher in children with malaria and HIV (39.6% vs 12.2%, P < 0.001) and those with lower weight gain (4.3 vs 7.5 g kg(-1) day(-1), P < 0.001). Conclusions There was high prevalence of malaria and HIV and mortality among severely undernourished children with malaria and HIV.