Low prevalence of HIV and other selected sexually transmitted infections in 2004 in pregnant women from Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

This study examined the prevalence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in pregnant women in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Between April and July 2004, antenatal attendees at two of the largest maternity clinics in Kinshasa were tested to identify HIV status, syphilis, Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG). HIV seroprevalence was 1.9% in 2082 women. With PCR techniques, CT and NG infections were also uncommon in the first 529 women (1.7% and 0.4%, respectively). No active syphilis infection case was identified by Treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay (TPHA) and rapid plasma reagin test (RPR). A woman's risk of HIV infection was significantly associated with her reporting a male partner having had other female sexual partners (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.2-6.2). The continuing low seroprevalence of HIV in pregnant women from Kinshasa was confirmed. Understanding factors associated with this phenomenon could help prevent a future HIV epidemic in low HIV transmission areas in Africa.

Local Differences in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevalence: A Comparison of Social Venue Patrons, Antenatal Patients, and Sexually Transmitted Infection Patients in Eastern Kinshasa

“…HIV prevalence among the 1,116 ANC clinic attendees tested in our study (4%) was similar to that found in a 2002 study where 17 of 582 pregnant women in Kinshasa were infected (3%)[1]. HIV prevalence among women attending Kingasani ANC, where out study took place, has subsequently decreased to 1.9% in 2004 [8]. HIV prevalence among male and female STI clients was higher in this study (23.1% and 16.2%) than 2002 estimates of 8.8% (18 of 203 persons) [1] and 12.4% HIV prevalence among sex workers attending Matonge STI clinic [10].…”

“…Estimates of HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Kinshasa have remained between 2 and 5% for the last two decades[1-8]. Estimated HIV prevalence among female sexworkers and STI patients, although much higher than among pregnant women, decreased from 29% to 23% among sexworkers and from 12% to 9% among STI patients between 1997 and 2002 [1, 2].…”

HIV infection and risk factors among the armed forces personnel stationed in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

“…34 However, a 2004 study of 525 women in antenatal clinics in Kinshasa (the same location as the current study) identified no active syphilis infections, and a more recent study in 2011 of women in antenatal clinics (n ¼ 1840) found a screening prevalence of 2.0%, suggesting that the prevalence of syphilis in women residing in Kinshasa may be very low. 35,36 Self-reported data on two common STI symptoms (genital ulcers and genital discharge in the past 12 months) were collected during the interview. Selfreported genital discharge was not significantly associated with HIV infection in the analysis; however, aOR for reporting a genital ulcer in the past 12 months was significantly associated with HIV infection.…”

Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines Mediates trans-Infection of HIV-1 from Red Blood Cells to Target Cells and Affects HIV-AIDS Susceptibility

“…Such polymorphisms might also contribute to significant interpopulation differences in HIV-1 prevalence (Gonzalez et al, 1999, 2005; Schliekelman et al, 2001; Sullivan et al, 2001; Winkler et al, 2004), since sexual behavior and other social factors do not fully explain regional variations of the HIV-1 pandemic (Buve, 2002; Kinoshita-Moleka et al, 2007; Weiss and McMichael, 2004). Thus, identification of transmission and disease modifying polymorphisms that are found more frequently in specific populations may provide insight into the host genetic factors that contribute to the heterogeneity of HIV-AIDS pandemic and has broad public health relevance, as failure to account for such polymorphisms may confound the evaluation of therapeutics, microbicides, and vaccines (Kellam and Weiss, 2006; Pepin, 2005).…”