A 16-year study of HIV seroprevalence and HIV-related diseases in a teaching tertiary care hospital in India.

A total of 183,912 persons were screened from September 1986 to May 2002 in and around Haryana, out of whom 1178 were reactive (0.64%) for anti-HIV antibodies. The overall incidence of HIV-1 in the seropositive patients was 98.5%, HIV-2 alone was 0.8% and 0.7% had a mixed infection with both HIV-1 and 2. High seropositivity (22.8%) was observed among the relatives of these HIV-positive individuals. The heterosexual route (78%) remained the predominant mode of transmission. Among the jail inmates only one individual out of 1306 (1986 to 1993) was found to be positive. Tuberculosis (46.7%) was the most common opportunistic infection in these seropositive patients. Significant titres of Venereal Disease Research Laboratory tests were observed in 8.8% seropositive patients, 7.9% were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and only two patients were suffering from chancroid. Forty-six of these HIV-seropositive patients had already died. In order to cope with this epidemic, new models of care and cost-effective preventive measures are needed.