RISK BEHAVIOR AND HIV PREVALENCE IN INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS

Objective: To assess risk factors for infection and to determine HIV p revalence in a sample of international travellers. Design: A cross-sec tional survey of new patients attending a hospital outpatient clinic, and self-completion of an anonymous questionnaire on sexual behaviour prior to and during travel. Urine samples were tested for the presence of antibodies to HIV. Setting: The Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Lo ndon, UK. Subjects: All new patients over a 6-month period. Results: O f 782 people approached, 757 (97%) agreed to participate: 141 (18.6%) had had new sexual partners during their most recent trip abroad. Almo st two-thirds of those having sex abroad did not use condoms on every occasion with a new partner, and 5.7% contracted a sexually transmitte d disease (STD) during their most recent trip; 26% of men from World H ealth Organization Pattern I countries who had new sexual partners abr oad paid for sex. Sixteen out of 731 (2.2%) participants were HIV-anti body-positive. HIV positivity was associated with being born in east, central or southern Africa, having symptoms of an STD since arriving i n the United Kingdom and being treated for an STD since arrival. Concl usion: The rates of unsafe sex and payment for sex abroad reported by these international travellers indicate the potential for contracting and transmitting STD, including HIV, in both their foreign and domesti c sexual partnerships. With the increasing HIV incidence in Asia (the most common destination for UK travellers after sub-Saharan Africa), t he number of cases of HIV contracted abroad may rise in the future.