HIV-2-associated AIDS and HIV-2 seroprevalence in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.

During a 6-month period in 1987, we examined patients clinically suspected of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) at the national hospital in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, and found 20 cases that fulfilled the criteria for AIDS. The two most prevalent major symptoms were weight loss and diarrhea, and the most common minor symptoms generalized lymphadenopathy and generalized dermatitis. Six of 20 patients died within a couple of months. Nineteen of 20 patients were tested for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and type 2 (HIV-2) antibodies and were shown to be HIV-2 seropositive. During the same time period, a seroprevalence study of HIV-2 and HIV-1 was carried out, including 2,122 patients or healthy persons in Bissau. Antibodies to HIV-2 were demonstrated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and verified by Western blot analysis in 8.6% (46/535) of prenatal women, in 7.9% (9/114) of women attending a family-planning clinic, in 4.4% (19/427) of applicants for scholarships, in 17.6% (16/91) of blood donors tested during the first 2 months and 5.3% (10/189) of blood donors tested during the following months, in 5.7% (2/35) of police officers, in 36.7% (11/30) of female prostitutes, in 15.8% (97/614) of outpatients suspected of having tuberculosis, and in 55.2% (48/87) of patients clinically suspected of AIDS or AIDS-related disease. One of 2,001 subjects tested had antibodies specific for HIV-1. Another subject had an antibody pattern compatible with both HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)