Monitoring HIV Epidemic in Pregnant Women: Are the Current Measures Enough?

Abstract

Introduction. Burden of HIV in pregnant women follows overall epidemic in India. Hence, it is imperative that prevalence calculations in this group be accurate. The present study was carried out to determine prevalence of HIV in pregnant women attending our hospital, to determine trend of HIV infection and to compare our results with reported prevalence. Methods. All pregnant women are routinely counselled for HIV testing using opt-out strategy. Year-wise positivity and trend were determined in these patients over a period of five years. The positivity in different age groups was determined. Results. 31,609 women were tested of which 279 (0.88%) were positive. Positivity showed a declining trend over study period and significant quadratic trend (biphasic, P < 0.05) was observed. The positivity in older age group ≥35 years (1.64%) was significantly more than younger age groups (0.76% in 15–24-year and 0.94% in 25–34-year age group) (P = 0.0052). Conclusion. A significant decline in HIV positivity was seen over the study period. Taking into account heterogeneous nature of HIV epidemic even within the same district, analysis at local levels especially using the prevention of parent to child transmission of HIV program data is critical for HIV programming and resource allocation.

Prevalence of HIV Infection among Pregnant Women in a Tertiary Care Hospital Akola, India

“…Similar findings are revealed in the study done by Khokar et al, (2015) and Sarkate (2015) et al This is because of the fact that 25 to 29 years is the most sexually active age group. Young women are more vulnerable to the HIV epidemic and the virus is more easily passed to young women because of their immature vaginal tracts and easily torn tissues; meanwhile, gender inequities in many countries prevent young women from negotiating safer sexual practices including condom use.…”

“…Accordingly, HIV data from antenatal women has been used to monitor trends in the general population and to predict the seroprevalence in young children (Zaba et al, 2006;Boerma et al, 2003). et al, 2011;Sarkate et al, 2015). HIV sentinel surveillance (HSS), data from the pregnant women at antenatal clinics shows considerable difference continue to exist in the prevalence rates across different geographical region of India.…”

Seroprevalence of HIV in pregnant women in tertiary care hospital Kota, India

“…Similar findings are revealed in the study done by Khokar et al and Sarkate et al 11,13 This is because of the fact that 25 to 29 years is the most sexually active age group. Young women are more vulnerable to the HIV epidemic and the virus is more easily passed to young women because of their immature vaginal tracts and easily torn tissues; meanwhile, gender inequities in many countries prevent young women from negotiating safer sexual practices including condom use.…”

Trends in the Seroprevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Pregnant Women Attending a Tertiary Care Center in Navi Mumbai, Western India

“…This has brought down the refusal for testing to less than 1%. Countries like Uganda and Thailand too have replaced their unlinked anonymous testing data with MTCT (Mother to Child Transmission) data for surveillance due to higher coverage and participation [5].…”

“…The Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PPTCT) program launched in 2002 has undergone considerable expansion and offers counselling, voluntary and confidential screening in addition to interventions to block the transmission of HIV from the mother to the child. To date, there are more than 15,000 sites offering PPTCT services [5]. Data from such PPTCT centers provide invaluable inputs for estimating the seroprevalence of HIV among pregnant women within a region of the state.…”