HIV Seroprevalence and Confirmatory Rate in Enugu Urban Population: A Sentinel Survey

Abstract

This sentinel study determined the occurrence of HIV infection and confirmation rate of seropositive individuals among diverse Enugu Urban population. A seroprevalence rate of 25.55 percent was obtained for September - December 1999 and a confirmatory rate of 10.57 percent (P<0.05) while seroprevalence rate for the period January – May 2000 was 19.29 percent and the confirmatory rate was 14.44 percent (P<0.05). For the nine months period, a seroprevalence of 21.77 percent and confirmatory rate 12.64 percent (P<0.05) were obtained. The overall picture of the seroprevalence for this survey showed a rise and fall pattern. The decreasing rate of confirmation for HIV positive patients/subjects showed that many of them disappear into the wider population probably due to stigmatization. This together with the mere absence of HIV seronegative confirmatory rate posed a severe danger in the management of PLHA. It is concluded that both incidence and prevalence of HIV scourge will be difficult to predict while the risk of unconfirmed cases will enhance a wide and silent spread of the virus especially if they are negative seroconverts.