Influenza-induced alveolar macrophages protect against death by malaria-associated acute lung injury.

Lower respiratory tract infections are common in malaria-endemic areas, and there is some evidence that co-infections between various bacteria/viruses and may affect disease prognosis. In this study, we report the novel finding that co-infection with influenza/A/X31 protects mice from death by NK65-Edinburgh, a model of severe malarial pulmonary leak which underpins malaria-associated acute lung injury (MA-ALI) and malaria-associated acute respiratory distress (MA-ARDS). Co-infected mice exhibit equivalent parasitemia as mice with malaria only, suggesting that the survival phenotype is due to differences in immune kinetics.