Seroprevalence of HIV Among Blood Donors, Antenatal Women and Other Patients in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

HIV/AIDS continues to remain a nightmare in the developing nations of the world especially in Nigeria, where about 2.9 million people are living with this problem. This study aimed at determining the sero-prevalence of HIV among both patients and blood donors at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria. Samples were collected between January 1st, 2005 and December, 31st 2006 and were screened using two rapid test kits, with two different principles (enzymatic and agglutination). Samples positive to the two methods were taken as truly sero-positive. The seropositive rate among blood donors, antenatal women, in- and out patients were, 3.2%, 6.9% and 17.5% respectively. There were five cases of positivity to both HIV I and II. Antenatal women between the ages of 26-35 were found responsible for 5.3% of the total positivity among antenatal women. Though, there is high prevalence rate among in- and out-patients, many of these were screened based on manifestation of clinical symptoms. However, more is to be done in the area of prevention of this disease, since no cure is yet found.