Evidence of co-circulation and co-exposure to arboviruses and malaria in a longitudinal cohort in Kenya from 2019 to 2022
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
- 2RTI International, Washington, DC USA
- 3Department of Environment and Health Sciences, Technical University of Mombasa, Mombasa, Kenya
- 4Centre for Global Health Research, Medical Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya
- 5Vector borne Disease control Unit, Msambweni County Referral hospital, Msambweni, Kenya
Abstract
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), dengue virus (DENV), and malaria have gained significant concern in sub-Saharan Africa. The similar epidemiology, endemicity and clinical presentation of the diseases caused by these pathogens underscore the need to investigate the burden and emergence of mixed infections and the potential factors that increase the risk of coexistence and co-circulation of these pathogens. In this study, we determine the burden of co-exposure and co-infection of CHIKV, DENV, and malaria in Kenya and describe the associated risk factors. We followed 4,534 study participants from December 2019 to February 2022 on the coast (Ukunda) and west (Kisumu) of Kenya to quantify the burden of CHIKV, DENV, and malaria co-infections and recent and lifetime co-exposure. The results highlight 15.5% acute malarial infection, 0.7% acute DENV infection, and 0.06% acute CHIKV infection in our cohort. No acute co-infection was detected. The lifetime co-exposure to DENV and malaria was 0.75% and CHIKV and malaria was 1.8%. We estimated ~ 0.2% of the study population to be co-exposed to DENV, CHIKV, and malaria. The study highlights the importance of higher socioeconomic status, mosquito prevention methods, and sleeping under the bed nets to decrease the co-exposure to DENV, CHIKV, and malaria and, crowding and presence of water containers to increase the co-exposure to DENV, CHIKV, and malaria.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-65333-7.
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BibTeX
@article{tariq2026evidence,
title = {{Evidence of co-circulation and co-exposure to arboviruses and malaria in a longitudinal cohort in Kenya from 2019 to 2022}},
author = {Amna Tariq and Donal Bisanzio and Francis Mutuku and Bryson Ndenga and Zainab Jembe and Priscilla Maina and Philip Chebii and Charles Ronga and Victoria Okuta and A. Desiree LaBeaud},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-65333-7},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-65333-7},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Evidence of co-circulation and co-exposure to arboviruses and malaria in a longitudinal cohort in Kenya from 2019 to 2022
AU - Amna Tariq
AU - Donal Bisanzio
AU - Francis Mutuku
AU - Bryson Ndenga
AU - Zainab Jembe
AU - Priscilla Maina
AU - Philip Chebii
AU - Charles Ronga
AU - Victoria Okuta
AU - A. Desiree LaBeaud
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/12
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-65333-7
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-65333-7
AB - Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), dengue virus (DENV), and malaria have gained significant concern in sub-Saharan Africa. The similar epidemiology, endemicity and clinical presentation of the diseases caused by these pathogens underscore the need to investigate the burden and emergence of mixed infections and the potential factors that increase the risk of coexistence and co-circulation of these pathogens. In this study, we determine the burden of co-exposure and co-infection of CHIKV, DENV, and malaria in Kenya and describe the associated risk factors. We followed 4,534 study participants from December 2019 to February 2022 on the coast (Ukunda) and west (Kisumu) of Kenya to quantify the burden of CHIKV, DENV, and malaria co-infections and recent and lifetime co-exposure. The results highlight 15.5% acute malarial infection, 0.7% acute DENV infection, and 0.06% acute CHIKV infection in our cohort. No acute co-infection was detected. The lifetime co-exposure to DENV and malaria was 0.75% and CHIKV and malaria was 1.8%. We estimated ~ 0.2% of the study population to be co-exposed to DENV, CHIKV, and malaria. The study highlights the importance of higher socioeconomic status, mosquito prevention methods, and sleeping under the bed nets to decrease the co-exposure to DENV, CHIKV, and malaria and, crowding and presence of water containers to increase the co-exposure to DENV, CHIKV, and malaria. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-65333-7.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -