title: Prevalence of HIV seropositivity among surgical patients in a tertiary care hospital.
abstract: The incidence of HIV infection has increased tremendously over the last few years. The new 2006 estimates released by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), supported by UNAIDS and WHO, indicate that national adult HIV prevalence in India is approximately 0.36%, which corresponds to an estimated 2 million to 3.1 million people living with HIV in this country. The positive rate of HIV tested persons has shown a rising trend. So, a study was conducted on patients attending the surgery department for different operative procedures and 13 patients were HIV reactive out of 1697 patients tested. Routine HIV testing is usually not carried out at most centres and the medical fraternity is constantly exposed to the risk of HIV infection which can have wide-ranging implications in a health professional's life. HIV testing should be insisted on every patient before undertaking any surgical procedure routinely.
authors.affiliation: Departmnent of Surgery, NRS Medical College, Kolkata 700014.
authors.forename: Susmita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.forename: Banya
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chakrabarty
authors.forename: Pratip Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Kundu
authors.forename: Abhiram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maji
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Ghosal
authors.forename: Krishna Kamal
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Dey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data