Prevalence of AIDS in Family Members of HIV Positive Patients in District Bannu
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31580/pjmls.v7i4.3199Keywords:
Family transmission of HIV, HIV diagnosis, ICT methodAbstract
Background: The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) undermines the immune system and may advance to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) without prompt treatment. Timely diagnosis and antiretroviral treatment are essential for illness management and enhancing patient outcomes.
Aim and Objective: This study aimed to determine the frequency of AIDS among family members of HIV-positive patients at Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital MTI District Bannu, using ICT and PCR protocols for diagnosis and assessing the correlation between HIV-infected individuals and their family members.
Methodology: Blood samples from 131 individuals were analyzed using the ICT method, all of which indicated HIV positivity.
Results: Among the 131 individuals, 64.9% were male, and 35.1% were female. Age-wise prevalence was highest in individuals aged 21–40 years (54.2%). Most HIV-positive females (33.6%) were homemakers, while males were predominantly drivers (26.7%), labourers (10.7%), and students (9.9%). Foreign travel history revealed 44.3% of patients had travelled abroad, mainly to UAE (22.1%) and Saudi Arabia (16.8%). Among family members, 48% of infected cases were wives of HIV-positive husbands, followed by 32.8% of infected husbands. Families with one child showed the highest infection rate (29.8%).
Conclusion: The study found a strong link between HIV prevalence and family connections, particularly among spouses of infected men and households with children. To reduce intra-family HIV transmission, targeted public health initiatives, early diagnosis, and education are needed.
References
Craigie R, Bushman FD. Hiv dna integration. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine. 2012;2(7):a006890.
Altaf A, Saleem N, Abbas S, Muzaffar R. High prevalence of HIV infection among injection drug users (IDUs) in Hyderabad and Sukkur, Pakistan. J Pak Med Assoc. 2009;59(3):136-40.
Dunlap E. Knowledge, awareness and behavior: HIV/AIDS and disasters. Journal of alcoholism and drug dependence. 2016;4(1).
Ho DD, Neumann AU, Perelson AS, Chen W, Leonard JM, Markowitz M. Rapid turnover of plasma virions and CD4 lymphocytes in HIV-1 infection. Nature. 1995;373(6510):123-6.
Balasubramaniam M, Pandhare J, Dash C. Immune control of HIV. Journal of life sciences (Westlake Village, Calif). 2019;1(1):4.
Koenig S, Gendelman HE, Orenstein JM, Dal Canto MC, Pezeshkpour GH, Yungbluth M. Detection of AIDS virus in macrophages in brain tissue from AIDS patients with encephalopathy. Science. 1986;233(4768):1089-93.
Lekkerkerker AN, Kooyk Yv, Geijtenbeek TB. Viral piracy: HIV-1 targets dendritic cells for transmission. Current HIV research. 2006;4(2):169-76.
Khanani RM, Hafeez A, Rab S, Rasheed S. Human immunodeficiency virus-associated disorders in Pakistan. AIDS research and human retroviruses. 1988;4(2):149-54.
Schäfer A, Obladen M, Maier RF, Seel K, Feiterna-Sperling C, Weigel R. An effective and safe protocol involving zidovudine and caesarean section to reduce vertical transmission of HIV-1 infection. Aids. 2000;14(18):2903-11.
Lehmann P. The United Nations General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS:'global crisis-global action'.-editorial. Communicable Diseases Intelligence Quarterly Report. 2001;25(3).
Ahmed A, Hashmi FK, Khan GM. HIV outbreaks in Pakistan. The Lancet HIV. 2019;6(7):e418.
Ilyas M, Asad S, Ali L, Shah M, Badar S, Sarwar MT. A situational analysis of HIV and AIDS in Pakistan. Virology journal. 2011;8:1-3.
Murray CJ, Ortblad KF, Guinovart C, Lim SS, Wolock TM, Roberts DA. Global, regional, and national incidence and mortality for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria during 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. The Lancet. 2014;384(9947):1005-70.
Rizwan-Ul-Hasa S, Abdullah A, Siddiqui SA, Ahmed S, Shah SA, Mir F. Probabilistic measures of HIV-1 transmission in different HIV-1 key population groups of Larkana, Pakistan. JPMA The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. 2021;71(8 (Suppl 4):S26.
Bengesai AV, Khan HT, Dube R. The association between sexual behaviours and initiation of post-secondary education in South Africa. Journal of Biosocial Science. 2019;51(1):59-76.
Boniphace I, Omari M, Fred RS, Ferdinand M, Marcel T. HIV/AIDS clinical manifestations and their implication for patient clinical staging in resource limited settings in Tanzania. The open AIDS journal. 2011;5:9.
Chitwood DD, McCoy CB, Inciardi JA, McBride DC, Comerford M, Trapido E. HIV seropositivity of needles from shooting galleries in south Florida. American journal of public health. 1990;80(2):150-2.
Fearon M. The laboratory diagnosis of HIV infections. The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology. 2005;16(1):26.
Fu G, Shi Y, Yan Y, Li Y, Han J, Li G. The prevalence of and factors associated with willingness to utilize HTC service among college students in China. BMC Public Health. 2018;18:1-10.
Hemelaar J. The origin and diversity of the HIV-1 pandemic. Trends in molecular medicine. 2012;18(3):182-92.
Wahab A, Tahir N, Abbasi A, Uddin QT. Incidence of HIV infection amongst intravenous drug users in the Urban and Peri-Urban areas of Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. World Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2014:1930-3.
Khan MD, Wali A, Fatima R, Yaqoob A, Aziz S. Prevalence and associated risk factors of HIV in prisons in Balochistan, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study. F1000Research. 2019;7:1821.
Li W, Chu J, Zhu Z, Li X, Ge Y, He Y. Epidemiological characteristics of HIV infection among college students in Nanjing, China: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ open. 2020;10(5):e035889.
Xu H, Xie J, Xiao Z, Xiao H, Li X, Goldsamt L. Sexual attitudes, sexual behaviors, and use of HIV prevention services among male undergraduate students in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health. 2019;19:1-9.
Kazi AM, Shah SA, Jenkins CA, Shepherd BE, Vermund SH. Risk factors and prevalence of tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus, syphilis, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus among prisoners in Pakistan. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2010;14:e60-e6.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Pak-Euro Journal of Medical and Life Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
