Schistosoma haematobium Infection and CD4+ T-cell levels: A cross-sectional study of young South African women

Schistosoma (S.) haematobium causes urogenital schistosomiasis and has been hypothesized to adversely impact HIV transmission and progression. On the other hand it has been hypothesized that HIV could influence the manifestations of schistosomiasis. In this cross-sectional study, we explored the association between urogenital S. haematobium infection and CD4 cell counts in 792 female high-school students from randomly selected schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We also investigated the association between low CD4 cell counts in HIV positive women and the number of excreted schistosome eggs in urine. Sixteen percent were HIV positive and 31% had signs of urogenital schistosomiasis…