Sentinel surveillance of AIDS in female sex workers in correctional facility in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 2005-2011

Objective To understand the current status of HIV infection and awareness of AIDS related knowledge among the female sex workers (FSWs) in correctional facility of Zhenjiang, provide evidence for effective intervention and its evaluation. Methods According to the manual of national AIDS sentinel surveillance protocol, The cross-sectional questionnaire surveys and serological detections were conducted annually among the FSWs in a correctional facility in Zhenjiang from 2005 to 2011. Results Totally 1505 FSWs have been surveyed since 2005. The number of FSWs who never used condoms at commercial sex in the latest month before custody decreased year by year, and the number of those who used condoms at each sex increased. The awareness rate of AIDS-related knowledge among the FSWS surveyed was 56.45% in 2009, 71.65% in 2010 and 70.90% in 2011, the differences was statistical significant (2=10.60,P0.05).Two FSWs were detected to be HIV positive in 2011 (0.13%). Totally 151 FSWs were detected to be syphilis positive from 2005 to 2011 (10.03%), the prevalence of syphilis increased year by year. Conclusion It is important to conduct health education and behavior intervention, strengthen the surveillance to prevent the transmission of AIDS from FSWs to general population.