title: Nine-year trends in HIV-1 prevalence among visa applicants in Urban Ethiopia.
abstract: A retrospective study was conducted to examine trends in HIV-1 prevalence among visa applicants between the years 1993 to 2001 in Urban Ethiopia. A total of 63,869 visa applicants were screened during these nine years period. The majority of them (79.5%) were females. Their mean age was 31.6 and 25.7 years for males and females, respectively. HIV-1 prevalence ranged from 6.8% in 1993 to 10.4% in 1997 (test for trend: p<0.001), while it seems stabilized at around 11% after 1997. The overall period prevalence was 9.5%. The peak prevalence was documented in the age group 25-29 for females (12.1%) while it was in the age group 30-34 for males (11.4%). This study, therefore, confirms the severity of the HIV-1 epidemic in the country. Visa applicants can be used as a sentinel population for monitoring trends in HIV-1 prevalence in the country, although additional socio-demographic information would be useful for better interpretation of such data.
authors.affiliation: National Referral Laboratory for AIDS, Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Belete
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tegbaru
authors.forename: Hailu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meless
authors.forename: Abera
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kume
authors.forename: Tsehaynesh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Messele
authors.forename: Ayele
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hailu
authors.forename: Yared
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mekonnen
authors.forename: Arnaud L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Fontanet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence / Q000639:trends*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013997:Time Factors; D014195:Travel; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies