HIV/AIDS epidemic in French Guiana: 1979-1997

The incidence of AIDS in French Guiana remains one of the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean. The annual AIDS incidence rate increased continu ally from the start of the epidemic until 1995, when it reached 59.3/100,00 0 population declining thereafter to 26.6 in 1997. The prevalence of HIV in pregnant women was 0.9% in 1993, increasing to 1.3% in 1995, and that in i ndividuals attending sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics was 2.1% in 1996. We included 224 patients in a study of survival after AIDS diagnosis . The principal AIDS-defining diagnosis was tuberculosis in 20.5% of report ed cases. The median duration of survival was 10.2 months. Multivariate ana lysis showed that, patients greater than or equal to 45 years at entry prog ressed more rapidly to AIDS than younger patients. HIV prevention and acces s to health care should be developed in the various ethnic communities and adapted to cultural status. The progressive implementation of multiple anti retroviral therapies since 1996 may further reduce progression of the disea se but early HIV diagnosis is required to improve the overall prognosis of HIV-infected patients.