Seroprevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus among undergraduates of University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was performed among 340 undergraduates (151 males and 189 females) of University of Benin, Nigeria. The students aged 16 – 40 years of age were screened for the presence of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies). The collected sera were screened by immunocomb HIV-1 and 2 Bispot and confirmed for HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections using the immunocomb firm 1 and 2 kits respectively. An overall prevalence of 1.2% (4/340) was obtained with HIV-1 accounting for all the positive samples. None of the respondents was HIV-2 reactive. The students below 20 years of age had the highest rate (5.9%) of HIV infection. The males were more infected (2.0%) than the females (0.5%). There was however no association between sex, the monthly expenditure of the undergraduates and HIV infectivity (X2: P>0.05). There was a significant association between the undergraduates discipline and HIV infectivity with those in the Arts/Social Sciences accounting for the highest rate of infection (4.3%). There is therefore need to intensify campaigns aimed at averting the possible emergence of HIV epidemic in our campuses.
Key words: Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1 and HIV-2 strains), undergraduates