AEGiS-4IAC: [PL3] EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HIV INFECTION IN AFRICA

4th International AIDS Conference

Stockholm, Sweden. — June 12-16, 1988

[TITLE:]

Int Conf AIDS. 1988 Jun 12-16;4:1.106 (abstract no. PL3)

Bosenge N'Galy
Department of Public Health, AIDS Prevention and Control Program, Kinshasa, Zaire

The epidemiology of human retroviruses as etiologic agents for AIDS in Africa is complicated and has been found to vary widely from country to country. High risk behaviors which have been identified in one African country may be very different in another adjacent country. Whereas HIV-1 infection is most common in central and east Africa, HIV-2 appears to be more common in west Africa. The different natural history of infection with these two viruses also explains in part the regional differences in the epidemiology of AIDS which have been observed. HIV-1 infection appears to induce ARC or AIDS in the majority of individuals after an incubation period of between 3 to 5 years. In contrast HIV-2 infection does not appear to induce ARC/AIDS with the same regularity. Even within one region, central Africa, marked differences have been documented in the epidemiology of HIV-1 infection. In the generally conservative society characterizing life in Rwanda a high HIV-1 seroprevalence has been documented in pregnant women. In contrast in neighboring Zaire, a country with a less conservative life style, a much lower HIV-1 seroprevalence has been found in pregnant women coming from a similar social strata as the Rwandese women.

Despite these marked regional differences in Africa, heterosexual transmission remains the dominant mode. Therefore, with local modifications, similar prevention and control strategies for limiting the spread of both HIV-1 and HIV-2 can be adopted in all African countries.

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PL3