Rural epidemiology of HIV positive tribal patients from Chhattisgarh in India

Rural epidemiology of HIV positive tribal patients from Chhattisgarh in India

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Objective: The primary objective was to study the epidemiology of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive tribal patients, and the secondary objective was to study the associated comorbidities in a tertiary care hospital in dnd boysenberry the tribal (Bastar) region of Chhattisgarh, India, between December 2006 and November 2008, and their relation to CD4 counts.Materials and Methods : In this study 90 tribal HIV positive subjects were enrolled.Information on demographics, that is, weight, height, age, educational status, sex, clinical finding, and laboratory parameters (CD4 counts) were noted.Results: Among 90 HIV patients, 54 (60%) were males and 36 (40%) were females.Among these, most patients, 37 (41.

1%), were in the age group of 30 to 39 years.Among these patients, 79.56% belonged to the lower socioeconomic status, whereas, only 1.45% were from a high socioeconomic status.The largest group was made up of drivers (32.

2%), with the second largest group being housewives (27.7%) and laborers (17.7%), respectively.A majority of the patients had a low education, 35.5% were educated only up to the fifth standard and 31.

8% up to high school, while 18.8% were illiterate.The predominant mode of transmission was heterosexual contact (78.8%), only one patient (1.1%) was infected through transfusion of infected blood, five (5.

5%) patients acquired infection via vertical (mother to child) transmission, and redken blondage conditioner in 13 patients the transmission history was not clear.Conclusion: There was a high frequency of behavioral risk factors, together with unawareness, and very little health infrastructure, thus creating an impending risk for the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).