HIV seroprevalence among childbearing women in Connecticut.

A seroprevalence survey of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among childbearing women in Connecticut is being conducted as one of the family of HIV seroprevalence surveys funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Between 1 April 1989 and 30 March 1990 dried blood specimens submitted from all newborns (45,890) for metabolic screening were examined for HIV antibodies by standard laboratory techniques in a blinded manner. The overall HIV prevalence rate was 0.30% (138 newborns). Rates did not differ significantly by mother's age group in the overall population. Rates of seropositivity were higher among blacks (1.2%) and Hispanics (0.69%) than among whites (0.10%). Seropositivity by town was highest in New Haven (1.6%) where one in every 63 residents who gave birth was infected. Based upon this survey, we estimate that 45 HIV-infected children were born in Connecticut during the one-year study period and that approximately 2,300 women of childbearing age are currently infected.