Trends of Seroprevalence, Epidemiology and Clinical Presentation of HIV in North India: A Tertiary Care Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Introduction: HIV infection represents a major public health problem for both developing and developed countries as it has grown to global pandemic. Spectrum of clinical presentation of HIV can greatly vary with geopolitical, socioeconomic and cultural environment. Aims: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence, socio-demographic conditions, clinical presentations, opportunistic infections and the possible associated risk factors for acquiring HIV infection. Materials and Methods: An observational prospective study was conducted from January 2010 to December 2014 at our centre situated in north India. As per the strategy and policy prescribed by NACO, tests were performed on the serum samples. Results: Out of the total 35369 clients tested for HIV infection, 292 were found to be HIV-1 seropositive. Two HIV-2 cases were found among the studied population. The seroprevalence of HIV was found to be 0.83% (294/35369). Mean age of the study group was 30 ± 5.65 (range: 02-80) years. Overall positivity rates among attendees were found to be 0.97% (138/14098), 0.96% (35/3610), 0.82% (7/850), 0.78% (22/2810) and 0.65% (92/14001) in the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively. Heterosexual route of transmission was the major route of infection in 78.2 % patients. At the time of presentation, it was observed that Tuberculosis (14.9%) was the most common opportunistic infection. Conclusion: The study shows that there is a decreasing trend in the HIV prevalence in North India. However, the number of HIV cases is still significant and suggests the need for focused prevention efforts in high-risk groups.

Trends of Seroprevalence and Epidemiology of HIV Infection: A Five Year Tertiary Care Hospital Based Study

“…This finding is almost consistent with other studies (Laghawe et al, 2015;Goel et al, 2016). Male preponderance observed in our study might have been due to fact that females are still not availing of the medical facilities as compared to males.…”

“…There are approximately 34 million people currently living with HIV worldwide and about 30 million people have died of AIDS related causes since the beginning of the epidemic (UNAIDS, 2011(UNAIDS, , 2012.Though India is categorized as a low HIV prevalence nation, it has the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world with total number of people living with HIV (PLHAs) estimated as 21.17 lakhs in 2015 (Goel et al, 2016). According to National AIDS Control Organization of India (NACO), the prevalence of AIDS in India has declined in 2015(0.26%) as compared 2001-2003 (0.38%) (NACO, 2016).…”

Prevalence of Enteric Bacterial Pathogens among HIV Infected Versus Non-HIV Infected Patients with Diarrhoea in Northern India

“…In our study most of the patients were in age group 31-40 years old, 21-30 years old, and 11-20 years old with 37.33%, 17.67%, and 15% of the cases, respectively. This is similar to NACO nation-level statistics with an estimated adult (15-49 age group) HIV prevalence of 0.27% in 2011 (Annual Report, 2013-14) The male preponderance observed in present study might have been due to fact that females face more stigma and discrimination in a variety of settings including households, the community and workplaces so do not seek medical care fearing ostracism, loss of family support and financial constraint (Goel et al, 2016). Laborers constituted 32% of patients while 14% were truck drivers; 12% were housewife.…”

Seroprevalence of HIV-1 and HIV-2 Infections at an ICTC in A Tertiary Care Hospital in Pondicherry

“…5 in 2015, the prevalence of HiV infection was estimated as 6.3%, in a study by Malhotra S et al 6 The seroprevalence of HiV in north india was estimated by Goel V et al, in 2016 as 0.83%. 7 in 2010, Kannangai R et al, in their survey concluded that the incidence of HiV-2 was 2.47% in Southern india. 8 The seroprevalence of HiV in…”