Another issue for sub-Saharan Africa

HIV, malaria in deadly union

Much like tuberculosis here, infection with HIV makes you more likely to get sick with malaria. But conversely, being infected with malaria increases the virus load in the bloodstream tenfold, making it much more likely to pass on HIV through sexual intercourse. HIV/AIDS, caused by a virus, is expected to kill 2.9 million people this year worldwide--2.1 million of those are in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria, which is caused by a parasite, also has a high death toll--between 1 and 2.7 million per year, 90% of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. It is thought that tens of thousands of new HIV can be attributed to infection with malaria and millions of cases of malaria can be attributed to underlying immunodeficiency.