The epidemiology of AIDS in the Vellore region, Southern India
| Autor: | Babu Pg, Tripathy Sp, Ramachandran P, Kaur A, Chacko S, Selvaraj R, Jacob M, Jayakumari H, John Tj, N. K. Saraswathi |
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| Rok vydání: | 1993 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Rural Population Gerontology Sexually transmitted disease medicine.medical_specialty Blood transfusion Tuberculosis Urban Population medicine.medical_treatment Immunology India HIV Infections Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) Risk Factors Epidemiology medicine Humans Immunology and Allergy Risk factor Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome business.industry Public health Transfusion Reaction Middle Aged medicine.disease Sex Work Sexual intercourse Sexual Partners Infectious Diseases Female business Demography |
| Zdroj: | AIDS. 7:421-424 |
| ISSN: | 0269-9370 |
| DOI: | 10.1097/00002030-199303000-00018 |
| Popis: | To describe the epidemiology of patients with AIDS in Vellore region, Southern India.Sixty-one patients with AIDS were diagnosed and treated between July 1987 and June 1992. Information on their demographic characteristics and probable modes of acquiring HIV infection was collected at interviews with them and their spouses.There was a progressive increase in the number of patients seen over the 5 years. The mean ages of the 51 men and the 10 women were 33 and 29 years, respectively. Of the 44 patients from our district (population, 5 million), 28 were from Vellore town and 10 from rural areas. Forty-seven (92%) men had frequently used prostitutes. Of the women, four were prostitutes, one had had multiple sex partners and five had not had extramarital sexual contact. One man and one woman had no other risk factor except blood transfusion. Thirty-one (51%) patients had died by August 1992.The AIDS epidemic in this region is in its early ascending phase, with a doubling time of approximately 1 year. Most men with AIDS were infected by heterosexual contact with prostitutes, while some women were prostitutes themselves. Together with the male-to-female ratio of 5:1, these results suggest that the male population at risk has sex with a much smaller population of female prostitutes, constituting the major chain of transmission. HIV infection is occurring in both urban and rural populations.Between July 1987 and June 1992 physicians diagnosed AIDS in 61 patients at the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore, India. They noted that there were 200 AIDS cases reported in the same period in the region, but they extrapolated AIDS cases to be 7656. Yet even the figure of 7656 was likely to be an underestimate, because this hospital does not treat most patients in the district or in the town. The number of cases at this hospital doubled each year. The mean age of the 51 men was 33 years, and 29 years for the 10 women (male-to-female ratio - 5:1). 23% of cases were from rural areas. Most cases (71% for men and 80% for women) were married and lived with their spouses. 47 (92%) of the men had had sexual intercourse with prostitutes, suggesting that this was the leading means of HIV transmission. 4 married women were prostitutes and their husbands knew and/or encouraged them to work as prostitutes. 4 other married women had had no extramarital sexual affairs and were infected by their HIV positive husbands who had had sexual intercourse with prostitutes. The only risk factor for 2 patients was blood transfusion. The most common signs and symptoms of AIDS included considerable weight loss (62%), fever for more than 30 days (56%), tuberculosis (52%), oral candidiasis (41%), and chronic diarrhea (31%). By August 1992, 31 (51%) patients had died. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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