HIV Infection among STD Patients—Kigali, Rwanda, 1988 to 1991

Abstract

To follow the progression of HIV seropositivity among heterosexual adults at risk for HIV infection in the country of Rwanda prospectively, up to 100 patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STD) were tested each month from 1988 to 1991 at the health centre of Biryogo, which is located in a very crowded sector of the capital city, Kigali. Each patient had a blood sample tested anonymously for the presence of HIV antibodies. HIV seropositivity was defined as a reactive ELISA test combined to a reactive Western blot test. The overall HIV seropositivity among the 2058 subjects tested was 61%. It was higher (73%) among the 688 women tested as compared to the 1362 men tested (55%; P < 0.001). The per cent HIV seropositivity did not increase between 1988 and 1991, neither among the male nor among the female clinic attenders. However, the per cent seropositivity was higher in the older age groups, especially among the males. This exceedingly high proportion of HIV-infected STD patients in Kigali re-emphasizes the urgent need to include STD treatment, prevention and control among the priority actions for decreasing HIV transmission in African towns. Also, as the per cent seropositivities did not show any trend to increase over the 4-year period considered, we propose that our intensive HIV serosurveillance strategy among STD patients in Kigali be modified, since the plateau of HIV infection appears to have been attained in this particular high-risk population.

Sexual Behavior and Risk Practices of HIV Positive and HIV Negative Rwandan Women

“…But non-genocidal rape did not remain statistically significant in multivariate models perhaps due to lower statistical power as only 15% of the sample had experienced non-genocidal rape compared to 50% experiencing genocidal rape. Other studies have also reported that women living with HIV who have a history of non-genocidal sexual abuse are susceptible to risky behaviors including inconsistent condom use, transactional sex, multiple partnerships and sexually transmitted infections, which may have occurred during the abuse (33–38). Although prior experience of repeated sexual abuse particularly during childhood is associated with greater sexual risk behaviors and transactional sex (34), the influence of sexual trauma during war and conflict on subsequent risky sexual activity and transactional sex has not been well described.…”

Decreasing HIV-1 seroprevalence in young adults in a rural Ugandan cohort

“…The HIV-1 epidemic continues to spread in Africa,1 but some studies have reported unchanging HIV-1 prevalence among adult populations in different regions in Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire 2 3 4 5 6. In some of the major towns of Uganda the prevalence of HIV-1 among women attending antenatal clinics included in the national sentinel surveillance programme has declined since 1992; for example, the reported rates from the two main hospitals in Kampala, the capital city, fell from 29% to 22% in one hospital and to 17% in the other 7…”