HIV infection in Varanasi.

A total of 6038 serum samples collected from individuals staying/residing in the eastern part of northern India, were screened for antibodies against HIV. The screening was done by ELISA and followed by confirmation of reactive samples by Western Blot. The seropositivity was detected in 154 (2.6%) persons. The prevalence amongst high risk groups was 68/1000 while it was 2.8/1000 in low risk population. The male to female ratio was 1.8:1 in seropositives. Increase by more than three folds in the prevalence was observed from 1994 (1.5%) to 1997 (5.0%). About 50% of the seropositives were in their third decade of life. Seropositives were predominantly (> 90%) from eastern Uttar Pradesh. Almost all the cases could be linked to Mumbai, one of the largest commercial and industrial centres of India.