Abstract
Sera of all male donors appearing at the blood bank of a regional hospital in Northwest Ethiopia in 1994 (n = 1022) and 1995 (n = 1164), were screened for the presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) and treponemal antibodies. Additionally, screening for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was carried out on 549 consecutive sera. In 1995, the crude seroprevalence of HIV-1 infection and syphilis was 16.7% and 12.8%. Seroprevalence of HBsAg was 14.4%. HIV and syphilis seroprevalence was highest in soldiers (30.6% and 20.9%) and daily workers (18.8% and 13.5%), and lowest in farmers (8% and 6.7%). However, farmers had the highest rate of HBsAg (18.8%). HIV-positive donors had an increased risk for being positive for syphilis antibodies (OR = 3.69, 95% CI = 2.69-4.96), but not for HBsAg (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.36-1.67). The data indicate that (i) the HIV epidemic has not yet reached a plateau phase in Ethiopia, and (ii) the transmission and epidemiology of HBsAg in Ethiopia is different from that of HIV and syphilis.
Original language | American English |
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Pages (from-to) | 261-264 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | International Journal of STD and AIDS |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1997 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Africa
- HBsAg
- HIV
- blood donor
- sexually transmitted diseases
- syphilis