title: High incidence and prevalence of HIV-1 infection in high risk population in Calcutta, India.
abstract: HIV-1 infection in India has been increasing steadily over the last decade. In the absence of potent antiviral therapy, estimates of HIV infection are needed to monitor the epidemic, institute prevention strategies in target populations and determine the suitable populations for vaccine studies. In this report we present the HIV-1 seroprevalence and annual estimates of seroincidence in a high risk population from Calcutta, the most populous city in the eastern part of India. In 1206 high risk subjects tested over two years between February of 1999 and December 2000, we have determined an overall seroprevalence of 40.1% using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay followed by a confirmatory Western blot testing. Furthermore, using a newly described Standardized Testing Algorithm for Recent HIV-1 Seroconversion (STARHS), we have estimated an annual seroincidence rate of about 7% in this population during this two-year study. Such a high annual seroincidence rate makes this population well suited for studies of HIV-1 prevention, including vaccine trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA. pgupta1@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Phalguni
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kingsley
authors.forename: Haynes W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Sheppard
authors.forename: Lee H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Ramdas
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Adhir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Pratima
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Dhruba K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Neogi
mesh_terms: D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior