Studio sull’epidemiologia dell’infezione da HIV e sulle malattie a trasmissione sessuale in una consulta prenatale a Luanda

This study was performed on 1000 pregnant women who consecutively referred to two Health Units in a poor district of Luanda (Angola), inhabited for at least 50% by refugees from rural areas because of civil war. It was a serological research aimed at determining the prevalence of 3 sexually transmissible diseases (syphilis, type B hepatitis and HIV infection) with the following goals: a) to help affected women and their children; b) to extend the knowledge on the distribution of these diseases in the Angolan population; c) to evaluate the opportunities for an action aimed at stopping the vertical transmission of AIDS. The prevalence of syphilis was 1.7%; the prevalence of type B hepatitis was 8.5%; and the prevalence of HIV infection was 1.2%. In the light of this last figure, which was much lower than expected, an action aimed at stopping the vertical virus transmission can be realistically conceived.