Author(s)

Naba Kumar Hazarika¹, Syed Tanwir Alam², Arunjyoti Sarmah³, Arnabjyoti Bhagawati⁴

¹Department of Microbiology, Gauhati Medical College & Incharge ICTC & SRL, GMCH, Guwahati, India.
²Department of Microbiology, Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati, India.
³Research Scientist I (Medical), Department of Microbiology, Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati, India.
⁴Technical Officer, ICTC & SRL GMCH, Guwahati, India.

Objective: The main objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of HIV infection among the clients attending ICTC, Gauhati Medical College & Hospital, Guwahati, for a period of seven years, i.e., from April 2008 to March 2015. Material & Method: A total of 40,983 clients attended ICTC, Gauhati Medical College & Hospital from the year 2008 to 2015. Serum samples were collected after taking informed consent and pre-test counseling. In India for all ICTCs, NACO (National AIDS Control Organization), a national guidelines has been followed for HIV testing, reporting and release of results with post test counseling. Results: Of the total 40,983 clients tested for HIV infection, 1919 (4.68%) were found to be HIV seropositive. Seropositivity was higher in male clients i.e. 1314 (68.47%) than female i.e. 604 (31.47%) followed by transgender (TG), i.e., 1 (0.0005%). Heterosexual route of transmission was the major route seen in 1666 clients (86.81%). Maximum HIV seropositivity was in the age group of 45 - 49 years (43.62%). Conclusion: HIV prevalence of 4.68 % among the clients attending ICTC, Gauhati Medical College & Hospital, Guwahati, puts the spotlight on the HIV burden in this part of the country and suggests the need for the scaling up of focused prevention efforts in high-risk groups.

Northeast India, HIV, ICTC, Transgender

Hazarika, N. , Alam, S. , Sarmah, A. and Bhagawati, A. (2016) A Retrospective Study on the Prevalence of HIV among Patients Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital of Northeast India. World Journal of AIDS, 6, 65-73. doi: 10.4236/wja.2016.62010.