Study of risk factors for human Immunodeficiency virus transmission among seropositive cases

Abstract

Background: Infections with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are being increasingly reported ever since it was shown to be the cause of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in 1984. Knowledge of risk group / risk factors helps in taking effective interventions to reduce the spread of HIV cases. Methods: This study is an attempt to find out the risk groups / risk factors for HIV infection among the patients who attended the clinics of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. Result: Out of 681 HIV suspected cases, 54 were found to be HIV seropositive, among them 76% were male and 24%were female (male: female ratio being 3.15:1). The age group between 30 and 39 had the highest number of HIV seropositive cases. The HIV seropositive cases were further classified into different risk groups such as Intravenous drug users (IVDUS). Conclusion: Housewives, high-risk behavior, Nepali mercenaries, children and blood transfusion; IVDUS (33.33%) was found to be the major risk group. Key Words: HIV, Risk groups, Nepal, Age, IVDUs The full text of this paper is available at Journal of Institute of Medicine website