Prevalence of HIV Infection among Pregnant Women attending Antenatal Clinics at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh: A Retrospective Observational Study

Abstract

Introduction: Determining the seroprevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in pregnant women offers essential data for monitoring the trend of HIV and assists in prevention from mother-to-child transmission. Aim: To determine the prevalence of HIV infection among pregnant women. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted at Autonomous State Medical College, Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, India from July 2016 to June 2019. A total of 6,974 pregnant females were referred to the antenatal clinic during the study period, and all were included in this study. HIV antibodies were tested using the three ELISA/Rapid/Supplemental tests protocol. A woman was identified as HIV infected if tested positive on more than two HIV ELISA tests. The data were entered into MS Excel and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. A Chi-square test was employed to assess the association between the variables. Results: Out of 6,974 females, a total of 32 (0.46%) pregnant females were found to be seropositive (13 patients from July 2016 to June 2017, 10 patients from July 2017 to June 2018, and 9 patients from July 2018 to June 2019). Among the 32 HIV-positive pregnant women, 2 (6.3%) were aged <20 years, 19 (59.4%) were aged 21-30 years, 9 (28.1%) were aged 31- 40 years, and 2 (6.2%) were aged over 40 years. Illiteracy was associated with seropositivity, as 53.1% of seropositive patients were illiterate. Conclusion: Seroprevalence has been decreasing in recent years, indicating that we are on the right track. However, efforts should be made to provide universal access to antenatal care and services for prevention parent-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Keywords

• antenatal care
• human immunodeficiency viruses
• pregnancy