Azuonwu O, Azuonwu TC and Akpelu G
Introduction and Aim: The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a Retrovirus which can be transmitted through sexual intercourse, sharing of sharp objects, blood and breast milk thus, has been a massive public health concern over the years. Overtime, when left untreated the, virus would cause AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes) which directly or indirectly leads to the disruption of certain activities of the body, especially the immune system. This study was thus aimed, at determining the prevalence of HIV in some communities in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Design and methods: Whole venous blood was collected from 1000 randomly selected patients visiting the General hospital Isiokpo in Ikwere Local Government Area and the sera obtained after centrifugation was used for the HIV antibody screening test. The Alere Determine Method was used for the assay while the STAT PAK kit was used for the confirmatory test. Results obtained were calculated in percentages and represented in charts.
Results: The results showed that 16.1% of the study population was HIV antibody sero positive from which persons within ages of 22-28 were the most infected (27.9%); females were more infected (55.3%) compared with males (44.7%) and the farmers had a higher prevalence rate of 26%, next was the unemployed with a prevalence of 24.8% when compared with those of other occupations. The unmarried/singles had the highest prevalence rate of 50.9% when compared with the married and widowed.
Discussion and Conclusion: Although the prevalence rate is tricky with huge confounding risk factors, the youths of this area should be encouraged to be engaged in meaningful work to keep them busy, especially the females to prevent them from partaking in unhealthy sexual and risky behaviors. The people should also be enlightened on the means of prevention of HI/AIDS. Provision of antiretroviral drugs for the positive patients will also help to prevent the development among the infected subjects to full blown AIDS.
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