Background: Africa bears the burden of approximately 70% of global HIV infections and 90% of global schistosome infections. We sought to investigate the impact of schistosome infection at the time of HIV-1 seroconversion on the speed of HIV-1 disease progression, as measured by the outcome CD4+ T-cell (CD4) counts <350 cells/μL and/or death. We hypothesized that people who had been infected with Schistosoma spp. at the time they acquired HIV-1 infection would have impaired antiviral immune response, thus leading them to progress twice as fast to a CD4 count less than 350 cells/μL or death than would people who had been free of schistosomes at time of HIV-1 seroconversion.
Methods and principal findings: We conducted a longitudinal study in Tanzania from 2006 to 2017 using stored blood spot samples, demographic surveillance and sero-survey data from the community, and a review of clinical charts. A competing risk analysis was performed to look at the difference in time to reaching CD4 counts < 350 cells/μL and/or death in HIV-1-infected people who were infected versus not infected with Schistosoma spp. at time of HIV-1 seroconversion. We found an 82% reduction in risk of reaching the outcome in seroconverters who had been infected with Schistosoma (subHazard Ratio = 0.18[0.068,0.50], p = 0.001) after adjusting for age, occupation, clinic attendance and time-dependent covariates.
Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that people with schistosome infection at the time of HIV-seroconversion develop adverse HIV outcomes more slowly than those without. The findings are contrary to our original hypothesis. Our current longitudinal findings suggest complex interactions between HIV-1 and schistosome co-infections that may be modulated over time. We urge new immunological studies to investigate the long-term impact of schistosome infection on HIV-1 viral load and CD4 counts as well as related immunologic pathways.