HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS INFECTION AND HUMAN AFRICAN TRYPANOSOMIASIS - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY IN COTE-DIVOIRE

To assess the association between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) i nfection and human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in Cote d'Ivoire, Wes t Africa, a cross-sectional case-control study was conducted on 301 HA T patients recruited in the main foci of the country. For each HAT pat ient, 3 controls, matched for sex, age and residence, were selected. D ata relating to socio-demographic factors and potential risk factors f or Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and HIV infections were obtained, and serum samples were collected for HIV-1 and HIV-2 tests. A positive tes t consisted of enzyme immunoassay reactive to HIV-1, HIV-2 or both and confirmed by a synthetic peptide test or Western blot. Data were anal ysed using conditional logistic regression with EGRET software. No sta tistically significant difference was found between the prevalence of HIV infection in HAT patients and controls(4.3% and 3.5% respectively; crude odds ratio (OR) 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65-2.50). In multivariate analysis, allowance for 5 covariates did not change th e association between the 2 infections (adjusted OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.64- 2.52). Although this study had limited statistical power, no significa nt association was found between HIV infection and T. b. gambiense inf ection in rural Cote d'Ivoire. Studies are needed to determine whether HIV infection influences the clinical course of HAT, a question not a ddressed in the present study.