Journal of Medical Laboratory Science, 2019; 29 (3): 61-71 http://jomls.org ; info@jomls.org Okparaku et al A Publication of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0). 61 61 Malaria Parasites Burden at Various Stages of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection Sunday Onyemaechi Okparaku 1 , Okechukwu Felix Emelike, 1 Ebenezer Oseremen Dic- Ijiewere, 2 Charles Iyore Idehen, 1 Kingsley Osayande Airhomwanbor, 1 Ifeanyichukwu Foster Ene 3 . 1.Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria. 2.Department of Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, Nigeria. 3.Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. ABSTRACT Background: Studies have shown that there are more incident and severe occurrences of malaria among HIV infected individuals, and markers of HIV disease sequence exacerbate during acute malaria. This study was designed to evaluate the malaria parasites burden on various stages of HIV among infected subjects. Total of 116 co-infected subjects were used and compared with HIV mono-infected and apparently healthy subjects. Method: About 8mls of venous blood sample was drawn from each subject. Malaria parasite density was determined by blood film examination as well as assay of some immune- cellular and biochemical parameters using Sysmex Kx-21N automated Haematology Analyzer. Result: The study showed that HIV stage I present the highest prevalence of co-infection (22.4%) whereas stage III had the least prevalence (3.0%) of co-infection. The malaria parasites density was highest in stage III with mean value of 805.00±589.53/μl. This mean value was higher (p<0.05) than the least mean value (307.33±222.65/μl) from stage I subjects. Stages I and II showed that intake of ART reduces parasites burden. However, the reverse was the case for stage III and IV subjects. Stage III proved to have the highest mean granulocytes values (70.45±27.31%) and the least total WBC count (5.05±1.87x10 9 l). ART intake significantly reduced lymphocytes especially in stage I (36.12±21.07%) and III (1.00±0.00%) subjects. Stage III co-infected subjects had significantly low mean PCV (22.50±2.67%). Conclusion: High malaria parasites density and reduced WBCs as well as PCV observed in stage III co-infected subjects could increase the risk of negative disease outcome. Hence, concerted efforts are required to prevent disease progression at this stage. Key words: Malaria, HIV stages, Co-infection, Malaria Parasite burden Corresponding author: Email: sunne4real@yahoo.com; Cell phone: +2348038260161 ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9388-6290 Author’s contributions: This work was carried out and approved in collaboration between all the authors. OSO designed the study; ICI sourced for funding; AKO wrote the protocol; EIF contributed in literature search; OSO did the lab experiments; OSO analyzed the results; DEO did statistical analysis; EOF contributed in discussion; DEO drafted the manuscript; EOF supervised the study; OSO Wrote the final manuscript; ICI proofread the manuscript. Received: 08/27, 2019; Accepted: 11/20, 2019; Published: 12/26, 2019. Citation:Okparaku SO, Emelike OF, Dic-Ijiewere EO, Idehen CI,Airhomwanbor KO,Ene IF. Malaria Parasites Burden at Various Stages of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection. J Med Lab Sci, 2019; 29 (3): 61-71 http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4007898