Prevalence of HIV infection among patients with leprosy in African countries and Yemen.
Screening for human immunodeficiency viruses types 1 and 2 (HIV-1 and HIV-2) antibodies was carried out in the serum of 1,245 leprous patients and 5,731 controls selected in nine different centers from the Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Yemen Arab Republic. In Yemen, all sera were negative. In the Congo, the seropositivity among patients and controls was, respectively, 3.8 and 5.2%; in Senegal, it was 1.3 and 0.6%; and in the Ivory Coast 4.8 and 3.9%. Differences were not statistically significant, even considering lepromatous or tuberculoid forms (3.6% and 3.7%, respectively). HIV-2 antibodies were only detected in subjects from the Ivory Coast and Senegal. Using appropriate criteria for seropositivity (confirmation by Western blot, reactivity to HIV envelope glycoproteins) and a large selection of patients (several countries with several centers), it appears that leprosy (and specially the lepromatous form) is not a factor for HIV infection.
Département de Bactériologie-Virologie, CHU Dupuytren, Limoges, France.
G
G
Leonard
A
A
Sangare
M
M
Verdier
E
E
Sassou-Guesseau
G
G
Petit
J
J
Milan
S
S
M'Boup
J L
JL
Rey
J L
JL
Dumas
J
J
Hugon
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015497:HIV-1; D015498:HIV-2; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D015006:Yemen / Q000453:epidemiology
D015483:HIV Antibodies