HIV AIDS AMONG PALESTINIAN ARABS

We studied 24 HIV-positive Palestinians who presented for medical care in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip between 1987 and 1992. Three individuals, all males, were detected by blood bank screening. An additional 21 individuals (12 males, 7 females, 2 infants) were dia gnosed as having HIV infection. Fifteen of 24 had full-blown AIDS - 11 /24 (46%) were expatriates; there were 4 heterosexuals, 5 transfusion recipients and 6 homosexuals, together comprising 79% of the individua ls whose risk group was known. As compared with Israelis, Palestinians presented for medical treatment at a later stage of HIV infection. We also studied the incidence of HIV infection among Palestinian blood d onors between 1987 and 1992. The incidence analysis was based on HIV s creening at seven blood banks of major hospitals in the West Bank, at the Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, at Hadassah University Hospit al (Palestinian blood donors only) and at two blood banks in the Gaza Strip. Demographic features were derived from the health department of the West Bank and from the AIDS clinic at Hadassah Hospital. Approxim ately 50,000 Palestinians were screened at the blood banks. Only three , all males, were detected as HIV seropositive, giving an HIV overall cumulative incidence of 0.006%. This figure was similar to the inciden ce among 500,000 Israeli donors (0.008%; NS) during that period. Altho ugh the low HIV incidence at the blood banks is encouraging, the negli gible number of HIV seropositives and the presentation at a late clini cal stage points to a deficiency in AIDS tracing and in access to spec ialized AIDS care in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The small overa ll number of cases precludes any definite conclusion as to trends in t he epidemiology of AIDS in the West Bank and Gaza. However, the receip t of contaminated transfusions and the return of infected expatriates seem to be important features of AIDS in the West Bank and Gaza.