Globally, about 3 billion individuals are at peril of contracting malaria disease annually. This disease load is intensified by the fact that about 2-3 million children are infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria and HIV coinfection is rampant in the region and account for significant morbidity and mortality. Among the malaria causing parasites species, Plasmodium falciparum causes more severe form of malaria disease. This study determined prevalence of malaria disease by age, gender, residence; severity by species and its determinants among HIV infected and HIV non-infected children less than 5 years in Kisumu County. All the data analysis was conducted in Stata version 14. A total of 132 study participants were recruited with equal distribution of sero-status, HIV+ (n=66) and HIV- (n=66). The mean (SD) age of HIV -infected children was 3.01(0.95) years (range 1.5 – 5.0 years) while the SD age for the HIV non-infected children was 2.59 (1.21) years (range: 0.3 -5.0 years). Out of the 66 non-HIV infected children, 21.21 % (95%CI=0.13- 0.33) had P. falciparum and 6.06% (0.02 - 0.15) had P. malariae. Among the HIV infected children, 4.55% (95%CI=0.01 -0.13) had P. falciparum while 1.52 % (95%CI= 0.00 - 0.10) had P. ovale. The prevalence was highest in children 4 to 5 years old with 37.50 (95%CI=0.17 - 0.64) among HIV non-infected. Severity of disease was classified based on Lambaréné´ Organ Dysfunction Score (coma, prostration, or deep breathing), LODS >0 (2.27% (95%CI=0.01-0.07). The study concluded that LODS is a clinical predictor of severity of disease (malaria) and its assessment should be implemented by the primary healthcare provider. Similarly increased uptake of Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis coupled with methodical clinical check-ups contributed to the reduction in malaria infection in HIV infected children.
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