THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HIV-1 INFECTION IN PERU, 1986-1990

Objective: To determine the extent of the HIV-1 epidemic in Peru. Desi gn: Part of a national serosurvey in Peru. Methods: Between January 19 86 and December 1990, 140 976 serum samples were tested for HIV-1 anti body. Results: HIV-1 antibody was found in a high percentage of serum samples provided by 4300 homosexual men (26%), 2204 male sexually tran smitted disease patients (10%), 145 drug users (13%), 269 hemophiliacs (10%), and 146 unlicensed female prostitutes (10%). In addition, the prevalence of HIV-1 infection increased substantially among these grou ps between the beginning and end of the survey period. A low but risin g prevalence of HIV-1 antibody was found during this period among seru m samples provided by 83 526 blood donors and 11 101 military personne l: total period prevalence, 0.25 and 0.32%, respectively. Conclusion: These data indicate that HIV-1 infection is epidemic in Peru among gro ups at high risk of sexually and parenterally transmitted diseases, an d that the risk of infection appears to be low but possibly increasing among the general population.