American Journal of Laboratory Medicine

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HIV/AIDS and Syphilis Sero-prevalence Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Center in Rwanda

Received: Jun. 30, 2020    Accepted: Jul. 13, 2020    Published: Aug. 05, 2020
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Abstract

Sexually transmitted infections pause a global challenge. Mostly, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and syphilis which are both transmitted sexually, infect a substantial number of people where female are at front line of exposure and high risk. Additionally, pregnant women experience more vulnerability exposing their infants to increased risk of dying from prematurity, low-birth-weight, stillbirth and congenital diseases. Therefore, continued surveillance of this co-infection is of paramount to establish the status of the diseases and increase the awareness. The current study has evaluated sero-prevalence of HIV and syphilis among pregnant women attending antenatal care center in Rwanda. In total, 1672 pregnant women who visited antenatal care center from 1st January to 31st December 2017 were included in the study. First, retrospectively, 1320 patient’s files were reviewed and all HIV and syphilis serological status and demographic characteristics were recorded from 1st January 2017 to 30th September 2017. Second, prospectively, from 1st October to 31st December 2017, 352 participants who accepted to participate in the study, gave blood sample for HIV and syphilis testing. The data were entered in SPSS version 22 and frequencies, percentage and chi-square tests were performed. As results, HIV and syphilis sero-prevalence were 71 (4.2%) and 29 (1.7%) respectively. In addition, 20 (1.2%) had HIV/syphilis co-infection. The cohabitant women exhibited higher HIV/syphilis co- infection than other women. HIV/syphilis co-infection exhibited a statistical significant association P.value 0.000. This finding suggest continued surveillance and special intervention for pregnant women to reduce their increased risk of sexually transmitted infection. In addition, cohabitant women need special intervention to reduce their increased risk of infection.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200504.11
Published in American Journal of Laboratory Medicine ( Volume 5, Issue 4, July 2020 )
Page(s) 83-87
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

HIV/AIDS, Syphilis, Sero-prevalence

References
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    Nyirahabihirwe Françoise, Munyemana Jean Bosco, Nikuze Bellancille, Nsabimana Théoneste. (2020). HIV/AIDS and Syphilis Sero-prevalence Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Center in Rwanda. American Journal of Laboratory Medicine, 5(4), 83-87. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200504.11

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    ACS Style

    Nyirahabihirwe Françoise; Munyemana Jean Bosco; Nikuze Bellancille; Nsabimana Théoneste. HIV/AIDS and Syphilis Sero-prevalence Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Center in Rwanda. Am. J. Lab. Med. 2020, 5(4), 83-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200504.11

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    AMA Style

    Nyirahabihirwe Françoise, Munyemana Jean Bosco, Nikuze Bellancille, Nsabimana Théoneste. HIV/AIDS and Syphilis Sero-prevalence Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Center in Rwanda. Am J Lab Med. 2020;5(4):83-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200504.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajlm.20200504.11,
      author = {Nyirahabihirwe Françoise and Munyemana Jean Bosco and Nikuze Bellancille and Nsabimana Théoneste},
      title = {HIV/AIDS and Syphilis Sero-prevalence Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Center in Rwanda},
      journal = {American Journal of Laboratory Medicine},
      volume = {5},
      number = {4},
      pages = {83-87},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajlm.20200504.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200504.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajlm.20200504.11},
      abstract = {Sexually transmitted infections pause a global challenge. Mostly, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and syphilis which are both transmitted sexually, infect a substantial number of people where female are at front line of exposure and high risk. Additionally, pregnant women experience more vulnerability exposing their infants to increased risk of dying from prematurity, low-birth-weight, stillbirth and congenital diseases. Therefore, continued surveillance of this co-infection is of paramount to establish the status of the diseases and increase the awareness. The current study has evaluated sero-prevalence of HIV and syphilis among pregnant women attending antenatal care center in Rwanda. In total, 1672 pregnant women who visited antenatal care center from 1st January to 31st December 2017 were included in the study. First, retrospectively, 1320 patient’s files were reviewed and all HIV and syphilis serological status and demographic characteristics were recorded from 1st January 2017 to 30th September 2017. Second, prospectively, from 1st October to 31st December 2017, 352 participants who accepted to participate in the study, gave blood sample for HIV and syphilis testing. The data were entered in SPSS version 22 and frequencies, percentage and chi-square tests were performed. As results, HIV and syphilis sero-prevalence were 71 (4.2%) and 29 (1.7%) respectively. In addition, 20 (1.2%) had HIV/syphilis co-infection. The cohabitant women exhibited higher HIV/syphilis co- infection than other women. HIV/syphilis co-infection exhibited a statistical significant association P.value 0.000. This finding suggest continued surveillance and special intervention for pregnant women to reduce their increased risk of sexually transmitted infection. In addition, cohabitant women need special intervention to reduce their increased risk of infection.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AU  - Nyirahabihirwe Françoise
    AU  - Munyemana Jean Bosco
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    AB  - Sexually transmitted infections pause a global challenge. Mostly, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and syphilis which are both transmitted sexually, infect a substantial number of people where female are at front line of exposure and high risk. Additionally, pregnant women experience more vulnerability exposing their infants to increased risk of dying from prematurity, low-birth-weight, stillbirth and congenital diseases. Therefore, continued surveillance of this co-infection is of paramount to establish the status of the diseases and increase the awareness. The current study has evaluated sero-prevalence of HIV and syphilis among pregnant women attending antenatal care center in Rwanda. In total, 1672 pregnant women who visited antenatal care center from 1st January to 31st December 2017 were included in the study. First, retrospectively, 1320 patient’s files were reviewed and all HIV and syphilis serological status and demographic characteristics were recorded from 1st January 2017 to 30th September 2017. Second, prospectively, from 1st October to 31st December 2017, 352 participants who accepted to participate in the study, gave blood sample for HIV and syphilis testing. The data were entered in SPSS version 22 and frequencies, percentage and chi-square tests were performed. As results, HIV and syphilis sero-prevalence were 71 (4.2%) and 29 (1.7%) respectively. In addition, 20 (1.2%) had HIV/syphilis co-infection. The cohabitant women exhibited higher HIV/syphilis co- infection than other women. HIV/syphilis co-infection exhibited a statistical significant association P.value 0.000. This finding suggest continued surveillance and special intervention for pregnant women to reduce their increased risk of sexually transmitted infection. In addition, cohabitant women need special intervention to reduce their increased risk of infection.
    VL  - 5
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Author Information
  • Department of Clinical Biology, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda

  • Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda

  • Department of Internal Medicine, Kibagabaga District Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda

  • Section