Epidemiological analysis of HIV infections/AIDS in a county of Henan

Objective The study was conducted to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of HIV infections/AIDS in a county of Henan province, providing evidence for the development of integrated control measures. Methods The epidemiological data of HIV infected/AIDS patients from 1995 to 2006 in the county retrieved from the center for disease control and prevention were used for the statistical analysis. Results It was confirmed that there were a total of 7066 HIV-positive people in the county, as well as 960 cases of death. There were 5874 patients at the moment, 94.8% of which were contributed by the HIV-positive people from eight counties where blood-donation paid people concentrated. Screening had helped find the major part of the positive population, which was mainly composed of young farmers, including 3401 men and 3665 women with the male to female ratio of 1∶1.08. Additionally, there were 1361 positive married couples, 1532 positive husbands and 1060 wives. A total of 88.2% people were infected by paid blood donation, 4.8% by previous blood transfusion, 2.5% by sexual transmission(mostly between spouses), 3.9% by mother-to-child transmission, 0.01% by intravenous drug use and 0.7% by unknown transmission. Among the 960 death cases, 321 of them were reported in 2005, contributing to the highest number. There were 529 dead men and 431 dead women, the AIDS mortality being 15.6% in men and 11.8% in women with statistical difference(?字2=21.6, P0.001). The mortality rates of people infected by HIV through different transmission routes were: 15.8% by blood transfusion, 13.7% by paid blood donation, 10.6% by mother-to-child, and 8.9% by sexual contact. Conclusion The county of Henan Province is facing the grim prospect of AIDS epidemic with a variety of transmission routes coexisting and the peak of incidence reached. Moreover, the epidemic has been spreading from high-risk groups to the general population. It is highly recommended to further strengthen such AIDS prevention and control work as the publicity and education, surveillance, testing, behavioral intervention, medical treatment, and psychological care.