HIV infection through normal heterosexual contact in Uganda

N. K. Sewankambo, J. W. Carswell, R. D. Mugerwa, Graham Lloyd, P. Kataaha, R. G. Downing, S. Lucas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

One hundred and fourteen household contacts of 23 patients with AIDs or suspected AIDS were examined for evidence of infection with HIV. In total 12 contacts had antibodies to the virus by a competitivie enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), confirmed by Western blot. Ten of these seropositive contacts were the sexual partners of the index cases. Overall 71% of sexual partners (10:14) were seropositive. By contrast only 2:100 of the non-sexual contacts had evidence of infection. These were the daughter of an index case and her 2-year-old son who were seropositive but had their own independent risk factors. The data presented here support the hypothesis that a major route of transmission of HIV in an African population is through heterosexual contact and furthermore suggest that transmission by other means such as intimate non-sexual contact, insect vectors, or the use of non-sterile needles is much less important.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)113-116
Number of pages4
JournalAIDS
Volume1
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 1987

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'HIV infection through normal heterosexual contact in Uganda'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this