Article Abstract:
A survey was carried out in the general population of the Ivory Coast, West Africa to determine the number of individuals who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Blood sera (serum samples) were collected from individuals of the ages that would be sexually active, from 15 to 65 years old, in urban and rural areas. The sera were tested for antibodies to HIV, and rates of infection (seroprevalence) were determined. Out of the 1,700 people tested in urban areas, 125 (7.3 percent) were HIV-positive. The rate varied with age and sex. The group with the highest rate of infection was male adults between 35 and 44 years old, with a 16.3 percent infection rate. Out of the 3,199 people tested in rural areas, 159 individuals (4.9 percent) were HIV-positive. The highest rate (10.7 percent) was in men between the ages of 25 and 34 years old. The high seroprevalence in the general population of both urban and rural areas of the Ivory Coast is in agreement with the large numbers of cases of AIDS that are reported by the hospitals in the country. This analysis is important for the planning of prevention programs designed to control the epidemic. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
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Article Abstract:
The prevalence of HIV-1 and AIDS increased between 1987 and 1993 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and the proportion of women with HIV infection increased relative to the proportion of men. Researchers reviewed data collected by the Projet RETRO-CI between 1987 and 1993 from outpatient clinics, tuberculosis treatment centers, and hospitals. Over the study period the prevalence of HIV-1 remained fairly constant, at about 10%, among pregnant women. However, among male visitors of sexually transmitted disease clinics, the prevalence increased from 9% to 27%. Among tuberculosis patients and infectious diseases patients, prevalence of HIV-1 steadily increased. Unlike HIV-1, the prevalence of HIV-2 and dual infection appears to have remained fairly constant. The ratio of males with AIDS to females with AIDS decreased from approximately 5:1 in 1988 to 2:1 in 1993. Expanding the defining symptoms of AIDS to include HIV-associated tuberculosis would have caused a 13% increase in AIDS cases in 1993.
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Article Abstract:
Men in Abidjan, Ivory Coast with tuberculosis appear to have a high risk of HIV due to frequent sexual relations with female sex workers, failure to use condoms, and a high incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. Researchers administered questionnaires and physical exams to 490 HIV-positive and 239 HIV-negative men with tuberculosis in Abidjan. Compared with uninfected men, infected men were two to three times more likely to have had sexual relations with a female sex worker or to have had urethritis or genital ulcer disease in the previous 5 years. Condoms were never used by 70% of the uninfected men and 76% of the infected men. HIV infection was also significantly associated with lack of circumcision. HIV education programs should be developed in Abidjan which emphasize condom use and the risks of having sex with female sex workers.
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