High seroprevalence of Leishmania infantum is linked to immune activation in people with HIV: a two-stage cross-sectional study in Bahia, Brazil.

Visceral leishmaniasis is an opportunistic disease in HIV-1 infected individuals, unrecognized as a determining factor for AIDS diagnosis. The growing geographical overlap of HIV-1 and infections is an emerging challenge worldwide, as co-infection increases morbidity and mortality for both infections. Here, we determined the prevalence of people living with HIV (PWH) with a previous or ongoing infection by and investigated the virological and immunological factors associated with co-infection.