HIV infection and risk factors among the armed forces personnel stationed in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Despite recent declines in HIV incidence, sub-Saharan Africa remains the most heavily affected region in the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Estimates of HIV prevalence in African military personnel are scarce and inconsistent. We conducted a serosurvey between June and September 2007 among 4043 Armed Forces personnel of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) stationed in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to determine the prevalence of HIV and syphilis infections and describe associated risk behaviours. Participants provided blood for HIV and syphilis testing and responded to a demographic and risk factor questionnaire. The prevalence of HIV was 3.8% and the prevalence of syphilis was 11.9%. Women were more likely than men to be HIV positive, (7.5% vs. 3.6% respectively, aOR: 1.66, 95% C.I: 1.21-2.28, p < 0.05). Factors significantly associated with HIV infection included gender and self-reported genital ulcers in the 12 months before date of enrollment. The prevalence of HIV in the military appears to be higher than the general population in DRC (3.8% vs. 1.3%, respectively), with women at increased risk of infection.
Department of Epidemiology, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA arimoin@ucla.edu.
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Rimoin
Department of Epidemiology, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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NA
Hoff
Global Viral Forecasting (now known as Metabiota) San Francisco, California, USA, and Yaoundé, Cameroon.
C F
CF
Djoko
Vaccine Research Center, NIAID/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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NK
Kisalu
Kinshasa School of Public Health, University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
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M
Kashamuka
Global Viral Forecasting (now known as Metabiota) San Francisco, California, USA, and Yaoundé, Cameroon.
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U
Tamoufe
Global Viral Forecasting (now known as Metabiota) San Francisco, California, USA, and Yaoundé, Cameroon.
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LeBreton
Kinshasa School of Public Health, University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Kayembe
National Institute for Biomedical Research, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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Muyembe
Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
C R
CR
Kitchen
Global Viral Forecasting (now known as Metabiota) San Francisco, California, USA, and Yaoundé, Cameroon.
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Saylors
Global Viral Forecasting (now known as Metabiota) San Francisco, California, USA, and Yaoundé, Cameroon.
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J
Fair
Department of Epidemiology, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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Doshi
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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E
Papworth
Virology Laboratory, CREMER/IMPM/IRD, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
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Mpoudi-Ngole
Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP), Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
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Grillo
Military Health Services, Ministry of Defense, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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Tshala
Laboratoire Retrovirus, UMR 145, Institute for Research and Development (IRD) and University of Montpellier 1, Montpellier, France.
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Peeters
Global Viral Forecasting (now known as Metabiota) San Francisco, California, USA, and Yaoundé, Cameroon Program in Human Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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Wolfe
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013587:Syphilis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*
AIDS; Africa; HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus); epidemiology; prevalence; sexual behaviour; syphilis (Treponema pallidum)