Seroprevalence of HIV in pregnant women in North India: a tertiary care hospital based study

BACKGROUND: Estimating the seroprevalence of HIV in a low risk population such as pregnant women provides essential information for an effective implementation of AIDS control programmes, and also for the monitoring of HIV spread within a country. Very few studies are available from north India showing the current trend in HIV prevalence in the antenatal population;which led us to carry outthis study at a tertiary care hospital in north India METHODS: Blood samples from pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi were collected after informed consent and pre-test counseling. The samples were tested for HIV antibodies as per the WHO guidelines, over a period of four years from January 2003 to December 2006. RESULTS: Of the 3529 pregnant women tested in four years, 0.88% (CI 0.5 – 1.24) women were found to be HIV seroreactive. Majority of the seroreactive pregnant women (41.9%) were in the age group of 20–24 years followed by the 30–34 yrs (25.8%) and 25–29 years (22.6%) age group. The mean age of the HIV positive women was 24.9 years (SD ± 1.49 yrs). The HIV seroprevalence rates showed an increasing trend from 0.7% (CI 0.14 – 2.04) in 2003–2004 to 0.9% (CI 0.49 – 1.5) in 2005–2006. This prevalence rate indicates concern, as Delhi and its adjoining states are otherwise considered as 'low prevalence states'. CONCLUSION: Seroprevalence of HIV infection was found to be increasing in the last four years amongst pregnant women of North India. These findings are in contrast to the national projections.