ISSN 2756-3413
African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 3421-7347 Vol. 13 (6), pp. 001-004, June, 2019. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among pregnant women in an ante-natal clinic in Port-Harcourt, Nigeri
Obi, R. K.1*, Iroagba, I. I.2 and Ojiako, O. A.3
1Department of Industrial Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo, State, Nigeria.
2Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Health Sciences Madonna University Teaching Hospital, Elele, Rivers State, Nigeria.
3Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of technology, Owerri, Imo State Nigeria.
Accepted 21 March, 2019
Abstract
Women attending ante-natal clinic in Nigeria are routinely screened for HIV/AIDS. A retrospective study was conducted between 2000 and 2004 to investigate the prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among pregnant women attending ante- natal clinic in Braithwalte Memorial Hospital (BMH), Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Data on positive cases of HIV infection within the duration were retrieved from the hospital’s record department. A total of 10,032 pregnant women were screened for the possible occurrence of HIV 1 and HIV 2 within the period. The results shows that a total of 595 (5.93%) of the pregnant women tested positive to the HIV. The year 2001 had the highest prevalence of 138 (1.38%), while the year 2000 had the least prevalence of 89 (0.89%). Analysis of the age distribution of the infection among the studied pregnant women in the hospital showed that women in the age group of 41-45 had the highest prevalence rate (80%), followed by women in the age group of 31-35 with an occurrence rate of 20.83%. The least rate of occurrence was observed in the age group of 26-30 which showed only 3.14%.
Key words: HIV prevalence, pregnant women, antenatal clinic.