Prevalence of HIV antibodies amongst apparently healthy pregnant women in Mongomo, Guinea Equatoria.
BACKGROUND
HIV infection among pregnant women is common and continues to grow. This study was undertaken to evaluate the seroprevalence of HIV antibody in apparently healthy pregnant women.


METHODS
Sera of three hundred and twenty-four consecutive pregnant women who had booked for antenatal care between February and July 1997 at the 'Provincial Hospital de Mongomo', Mongomo, Guinea Equatoria were screened for the presence of HIV antibody. Only four (1.23%) pregnant women tested positive using the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique (Wellcome HIV recombinant EIA Kit, Wellcome Diagnostics, UK). This was later confirmed using the Western Blot Technique (Dupont, USA).


RESULTS
The study shows that the HIV seroprevalence rate amongst pregnant women in Mongomo, Guinea Equatoria is low compared with the neighbouring countries in the Central African Region. This result, however, is higher than the National rate; this is not surprising since Mongomo has been shown to have a seroprevalence rate higher than the national average in the general population.


CONCLUSIONS
Routine HIV screening for all antenatal care patients, provision of anti-retroviral drugs to the sero-positive pregnant women at the subsidised rates, improved socio-economic status especially of women and certain cultural behavioural changes which empower the women are suggested as some of the ways to curb the menace of HIV infection amongst pregnant women and by extension reduce the vertical transmission of HIV to the baby.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria.
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Jimoh
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016703:Equatorial Guinea / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology*