The Odd Intersection of HIV and Scrub Typhus

This article reports on the findings of a study in Thailand suggesting that a disease called scrub typhus may offer novel leads in developing anti-HIV treatments and vaccines. In an August 5 issue of The Lancet researchers reported that the HIV level of AIDS patients’ plummets when infected with the bacillus that causes scrub typhus. The researchers pointed out that their massive yearlong screening program in Thailand uncovered 10 people with AIDS and scrub typhus. Viral loads in these patients were compared to a control group of 5 HIV-infected people who did not have scrub typhus. Overall the investigators found that the patients with scrub typhus had significantly lower HIV viral loads compared to those who did not contract the mite-borne disease. However the patients with scrub typhus were found to have more damaged immune systems with an average of only 117 CD4 white blood cells (WBCs) as opposed to an average of 255 CD4 WBC in the control group. Moreover evidence from a second experiment supports the literature showing that scrub typhus suppresses HIV.