AIDS IN AFRICA - AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC PARADIGM

Initial surveillance studies in Central Africa suggest an annual incidence of AIDS of 550 to 1000 cases per million adults. Clinically, AIDS in Africans is often characterized by a diarrhea-wasting syndrome and opportunistic infections. The present annual incidence of infection is approximately 0. 75% among the general population of Central and East Africa. The disease is transmitted predominately by heterosexual activity, parenteral exposure to blood transfusions and unsterilized needles, and perinatally from infected mothers to their newborns, and will continue to spread rapidly where economic and cultural factors favor these modes of transmission. Prevention and control of HIV infection through educational programs and blood bank screening should be an immediate public health priority for all African countries.