Seroprevalence of HIV infection amongst antenatal women in greater Harare, Zimbabwe.

Prevalence of HIV infection appears to be rising in many African countries. HIV infection in the pregnant woman poses a dilemma for the mother as well as for her unborn child. There are no data on HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe. This prospective study designed to determine HIV prevalence, enrolled pregnant women booking for antenatal care at Harare hospital and two of its peripheral municipal clinic. Two Elisa and a confirmatory Western Blot test on 1008 blood samples provided an HIV sero-prevalence rate in the studied population of 18 pc. High groups included unskilled labourers who were unbooked, single, divorced or cohabiting and below 30 years of age. Regarding education and income, women with over 11 years of education or earning over $600 per month constituted a lower risk category. Implications of this high prevalence rate are discussed and the urgency to examine feto maternal transmission and the effect of pregnancy on HIV status is expressed. Further more, intensification of preventive information and education programmes is recommended.