Prevalence of Antibodies to HIV among Students of Selected Tertiary Schools in Two Southwest States, Nigeria

Gabriel Olugbenga Daramola,Babatunde Ajayi Olofinbiyi,Adegboyega Oladele Agbaje,Amos Olakunle Ojerinde,Clement Olawale Esan,Helen Abike Edogun,Adebimpe Egbebi,Olugbenga Omoniyi Ajala,Ayodele Oluwaseun Ajayi,Adekemi Olubukunola Oluyege,Ogunbola Ogunfolakan

doi:10.4236/jbm.2017.58007

Abstract

Young adults generally have been identified as one of the groups of individuals who are particularly at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and under-graduates constitute a very significant subset among these young adults. Therefore this research was designed to study the specific factors that put undergraduates in ten selected tertiary institutions in southwest Nigeria at risk of contracting HIVAIDS, as well as determine HIV prevalence in these campuses and the viral load of positive subjects. 1000 undergraduates were enrolled in the study, over a period of forty-two months. Baseline retroviral screening was carried out, using a rapid commercial test-kit, DETERMINE®. Confirmatory tests were carried out on positive samples using Enzyme Immuno Assay (EIA) technique. The viral load of the positive samples was determined using Real Time PCR, while the CD4+ count was assayed using Cyflow technique. Four out of the 1000 subjects were confirmed to be positive, thus representing an overall prevalence rate of 0.4%. The CD4 count of the positive subjects were 479/L, 368/L, 420/L and 1063/L. Molecular analysis of the positive subjects’ samples using RT-PCR revealed that the level of viral RNA in two of the subjects’ was too low for detection, while the other two positive subjects had 20 cp/ml and 325 cp/ml of viral RNA in their samples. Analyses of both the negative and positive subjects’ questionnaires were carried out, so as to determine the probable risk-factors that predisposed the positive subjects to infection. Hypotheses tested at p < 0.05 revealed that there was a significant difference in the rate at which the subjects were infected with HIV among the age-groups.

Highlights

IntroductionIt’s been more than three decades ago since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were discovered in the US [1] and almost three decades since the first AIDS patient was discovered in Lagos, Nigeria [2]
This research was designed to study the specific factors that put undergraduates in ten selected tertiary institutions in southwest Nigeria at risk of contracting HIVAIDS, as well as determine HIV prevalence in these campuses and the viral load of positive subjects. 1000 undergraduates were enrolled in the study, over a period of forty-two months
It’s been more than three decades ago since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were discovered in the US [1] and almost three decades since the first AIDS patient was discovered in Lagos, Nigeria [2]

Summary

Introduction

It’s been more than three decades ago since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were discovered in the US [1] and almost three decades since the first AIDS patient was discovered in Lagos, Nigeria [2]. AIDS ravages the world, wrecking untold havocs in worst-hit nations of the world like the Southern Africa countries where in some places 1 out of every 4 working adults is infected. In such places, when the number of affected persons is factored into the HIV/AIDS disastrous equation, the percentage toll HIV/AIDS could be as high as half the entire country’s population. Youths who are undergraduates in the nation’s universities and other higher institutions are vulnerable to HIV infection for some reasons

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion