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Today, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) provides a dramatic demonstration of the interaction between malnutrition and infection. Transmission of the virus from mother to fetus is greater when the mother is deficient in vitamin A. The infection progresses fastest in people who are poorly nourished. And severe loss weight and muscle are hallmarks of the advanced disease, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Like other infections, HIV interacts with malnutrition in a vicious, devastating cycle. Left untreated, HIV infection progresses to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The virus attacks by destroying its victim's immune system. When a person is unable to fight infections and malignancies, disease quickly depletes marginal nutrient stores, speeding the way to severe malnutrition and death. But malnutrition and HIV interact on several other levels, as well:

1. Low vitamin A levels in pregnant women increase the rate of HIV transmission to their unborn babies.

2. HIV is transmitted to infants in beast milk; but in impoverished regions, substitutions for breast milk typically increase infantile diarrhea, malnutrition, and death.

3. AIDS leaves mother too weak to feed and care for their children. Eventually AIDS turns children into orphans.

4. AIDS disable parents so they cannot work to support and feed their families.

5. Reduced levels of micronutrients in an HIV-infected person are associated with faster progression of HIV disease and AIDS.

6. Weight loss and muscle wasting in an infected person are associated with faster progression of HIV disease and AIDS.

7. Infections that accompany AIDS cause fever and diarrhea, making malnutrition worse. Nausea and loss of appetite also contribute to malnutrition.

8.Severe protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is characteristic of untreated AIDS and frequently the ultimate cause of death.

As of June 200, sub-Saharan Africa had 24.5 million people infected with HIV. Southeast Asia had 5.6 million people infected with HIV, and Latin American had 1.3 million. Without treatment or cure, these people are doomed to death, usually within 10 years of the initial infection. The fate of severe PEM in millions of people appears unavoidable. If we do not arrest the continued transmission of HIV, the number of PEM victims will climb even higher.