AN anonymous HIV testing programme for ante natal Irish women has confirmed a lower prevalence of the virus than in other European countries.
The report, prepared by the HIV surveillance sub committee of the National AIDS Advisory Strategy Committee, also showed the prevalence rate for the disease was eight times higher in the Eastern Health Board area than for all the other areas combined. The figure for the greater Dublin area is similar to rates in large urban regions in other countries.
Covering the period October 1992 to December 1995, the report shows that 160,679 tests were carried out, of which 25 were confirmed HIV positive, giving a rate of 0.016 per cent.
The screening was conducted on blood specimens collected for routine rubella serology from ante natal clinics.
Work has begun on extending the unlinked anonymous screening programme into sexually transmissible diseases clinics. Results from the second phase of, the programme will give a better profile of the prevalence of HIV in high risk groups of people who are sexually active.
Women attending ante natal clinics were chosen to provide data indicative of the young sexually active population. They were aged from under 20 years to over 40. However, the authors point out, they are not representative of the whole population and could be under representative of certain groups.
Dr Gerard Sheehan, consultant in infectious diseases in the Mater and Beaumont Hospitals, said it could be inferred that the 25 women who tested positive were most likely to come from a high risk group.
He said it was important to survey a mixed population.
A significant limitation of unlinked anonymous screening is that the data cannot identify where or how infections were acquired.
The low proportion of women found to be HIV positive does not indicate a need for universal HIV screening in ante natal clinics, according to the authors.
However, the importance of having voluntary linked HIV testing available for those patients who request it remains, as does the need to continue to minimise the spread of the disease."
The relatively small numbers screened in the overall context of low rates impose a limitation on the interpretation of the results. A long surveillance period is required before trends over time or in age groups can be reliably identified.