PREVALENCE OF HIV-1, HIV-2 AND HTLV ANTIBODY, IN FORTALEZA, CEARA, BRAZIL, 1993-1994

To evaluate the respective part of HIV-1, HIV-2 and human T lymphotrop ic virus (HTLV) infection in Fortaleza, the principal city of the Cear a state (Northeast of Brazil), a cross-sectional seroepidemiological s urvey was conducted from July 1993 to February 1994 in 6 selected grou ps: pregnant women, tuberculosis (Tb) patients, sexually transmitted d isease (STD) patients, female and male commercial sex workers (CSWs) a nd prisoners. Sera were screened by Mixt HIV-1/HIV-2 commercial enzyme immunoassay and ELISA HTLV I/II. Each serum found positive by ELISA w as confirmed by Western blot. A total of 2917 persons were interviewed , of whom 2754 (94.4%) agreed to participate and gave a blood sample. Twenty-eight were found to be HIV-1 antibody positive. The prevalence ranged from 0.25% in pregnant women to 2.9% in male CSWs. The prevalen ce was 1% in STD patients and 0.44% in Tb patients. None of the sera w as found positive for HIV-2. The prevalence of antibodies to HTLV-I va ried from 0.12% in pregnant women to 1.21% in female CSWs. Five sera w ere positive for HTLV-II. These results confirm the hypothesis that th e HIV epidemic in Northeastern Brazil is still Limited to high risk gr oups. Repeated cross-sectional surveys of this type should be performe d as a surveillance tool to study the dynamics of this epidemic in low prevalence areas. Defining risk factors should allow targeting of int ervention strategies.