Publication:

HIV and pregnancy: fact sheet of a tertiary care hospital in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India

Background As HIV infection in women occurs primarily during reproductive years, hence incidence of HIV infection especially in sexually active women is more sensitive marker to track course of HIV epidemics. Pregnant women represent low risk population, so prevalence in pregnant women is proxy to HIV in general population.

Methods A prospective study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in JLN Medical College, Ajmer from April 2015 to August 2018. It included women attending antenatal clinic and emergency ward of labor room of our hospital.

Results Total 71 women were found positive for HIV out of 36,006 pregnant women who attended antenatal clinic, giving the prevalence of 0.197%. Out of these 71 cases, 1 case was positive for both HIV1 and HIV2. The prevalence of HIV positive women delivering in our hospital was 0.269%. 40.84% women belonged to age group 25-29.9 years and 39.43% to 19-24.9 years. Among 71 antenatal seropositive women, primigravida and second gravid accounted for equal fraction of the study population i.e. 33.80% each. 19.72% came from urban areas while 80.28% were from rural areas. 22.53% (16/71) had sero-discordant spouses. All seropositive women had singleton pregnancy and were housewives. 94.61% were registered for Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) and 5.39% went loss to follow up.

Conclusions The serodiscordance rate in our region is quite high (22.53%). Increased awareness in society leading to increase in number of pregnant women attending ICTC will help in reducing transmission of HIV by safer sex practices.