DIVERSITY IN HIV EPIDEMIC TRANSITIONS IN AHMEDABAD AND ITS VICINITY

Abstract

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus (a subgroup of retrovirus) that
causes HIV infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Douek et al.,
2009). AIDS is a condition in humans in which progressive failure of immune system allows
life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive. In the present study carried out
on 942 patients with various sexually transmitted diseases 65 patients were found to be
seropositive for HIV. Out of these 42 were males (64.61%) while 23 were females (35.38%)
which are lower than Burzin et al. (2006) from Ahmedabad reported 77.51% males and
22.49% females found seropositive for HIV. This might be due to less no. of patients in our
study. Large number of cases in males in comparison to females is explained from the fact that
in females the social stigma and discrimination prevents the women to seek help of STD clinic
facility, which in turn contribute higher cases in males. Hence, our study support the males are
affected than the opposite sex. Among 65 HIV patients, herpes Progenitalis is the commonest
STD with 28 cases (43.07%), followed by Syphilis (18.45%), Mixed VDs (12.3%), Molluscum
contagiosum (7.69%), Gonorrhoea (6.15%), Chancroid (4.61%), Condyloma acuminate
(3.07%), Granuloma Inguinale (1.53%), Lymphogranuloma venereum (1.53%) and
Nongonococcal urethritis (1.53%) indicating that HIV is co-supplemented with STDs and such
STD patients are high risk of HIV Seropositivity.