Characterisation of clinical features, environmental risk factors and immunological interactions in visceral leishmaniasis and malaria co-infections in West Pokot County, Kenya

Malaria and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) are two deadly diseases caused by parasitic infections. Both infections are commonly seen in the Kenyan county of West Pokot. As a result, the local population is at considerable risk of being infected with both VL and malaria at the same time. Nevertheless, few scientific studies have described the clinical presentation of patients with a VL-malaria co-infection. It is also unclear how the human immune system responds in these patients. During a co-infection, it is possible that the immune reaction caused by one infection will have a positive or negative effect on the course of the other, resulting either in milder or more severe symptoms. Because both VL and malaria are transmitted from human to human by blood-feeding insects, the risk of getting infected is largely dependent on exposure to these insects. In turn, insect exposure has been associated with environmental and household factors. So far, it has not been studied which household conditions are important for overlapping risk of VL and malaria in West Pokot.

Single-centre observational cross-sectional study with an embedded observational longitudinal cohort study and an ancillary observational case-control study.

ISRCTN project details

Combination of Interventions

Nov 2021 — Dec 2022

Kenya