Seroprevalence Of HIV Infection Among Orthopaedic And Plastic Surgery Patients In Enugu, Nigeria - A Six Month Study

Abstract

As the HIV pandemic continues to ravage every aspect of humanity, there is a need to document its incidence and prevalence in various medical subdivisions. This six-month study reports on the sero- prevalence of HIV infection among orthopaedic and plastic surgery in- patients. Out of a total of 121 patients screened using Capillus test kit for HIV-1 / HIV-2, 10 patients were HIV positive while 111 patients were HIV negative and this gave a seroprevalence of 8.26 percent. Out of these, 73 plastic surgery patients were screened of which 6 patients or 8.22 percent were HIV positive. This shows that the prevalence rates for both categories of patients were significantly higher than the 5.8 per cent national seroprevalence for HIV / AIDS. This raises a risk factor for both surgeons and other patients undergoing elective procedures in these two subdisciplines by contamination.

Key words: HIV infection, seroprevalence, plastic, orthopaedic, surgery

Nigerian Journal of Physiological Sciences Vol.19(1&2) 2004: 98-101