Abstract
Background: Since the inception of the integrated counseling and testing centre (ICTC) at government medical college (GMC) and associated hospitals, there was no previous study on the clinical experiences in HIV/Aids positive cases in this institution.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to delineate the epidemiological profile of HIV/Aids seropositive cases and which included to study:
Number of HIV seropositive patients from april 2002 to december 2009.
Common signs and symptoms of HIV/Aids seropositive patients.
Age and sex distribution of all seropositive cases.
Mode of transmission of HIV infection.
Residence and profession profile of seropositive cases.
Different types of opportunistic infections in these patients.
Study design: The present study is documental and analytical descriptive and it was conducted at the government medical college and associated hospitals through data collection of 128 records of individual who tested positive for HIV by three rapid test methods using three different antigens at integrated counseling and testing centre (ICTC). Demographic variables such as age, sex and occupation, data on mode of transmission and clinical manifestation were examined together.
Results: A total of 128 patients had tested positive for HIV by at least three tests using three different antigens, which included 112(87.5%) male and 16(12.5%) females. The mean age of these patients were 34.45 x 8.40 with male to female ratio of 7:1. The peak incidence was found in the age group of 30-39yrs (36.8%). Majority of HIV positive patients belonged to security personnel's followed by migrant labourers and housewives.
Transmission of infection was through sexual contact in 9 0.7 % followed by homosexual transmission in 4.7 %. Vertical transmission and blood transfusion accounted in 2.3% cases each. 78.9 % of patients presented with fever of > 1 month duration, 35.1 % with weight loss and 33.5 % with diarrhea. Tuberculosis and candidiasis were common opportunistic infection followed herpes zoster and varicella.
Conclusion: This study highlights the burden of HIV/Aids patients in the study place. The results will be useful for various programmes in health promotions in patients of HIV/Aids from this region.