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New infections and HIV‐1 subtypes among febrile persons and blood donors in Oyo State, Nigeria
Author(s) -
Olusola Babatunde A.,
Olaleye David O.,
Odaibo Georgi.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.26872
Subject(s) - medicine , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , virology , immunology
Purpose There were approximately 37.9 million persons infected with HIV in 2018 globally, resulting in 770,000 deaths annually. Over 50% of this infection and deaths occur in sub‐Saharan Africa, with countries like Nigeria being seriously affected. Nigeria has one of the highest rates of new infections globally. To control HIV infection in Nigeria, there is a need to continually screen high‐risk groups for early HIV infection and subtypes using very sensitive methods. In this study, new HIV‐1 infection and circulating HIV‐1 subtypes among febrile persons and blood donors were determined. Performance characteristics of three commercial EIA kits were also evaluated. Methods In total, 1028 participants were recruited for the study. New HIV‐1 infection and subtypes were determined using enzyme immunoassays and molecular techniques, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and agreements were compared among the EIA kits using PCR‐confirmed HIV‐positive and negative samples. Results The overall prevalence of HIV infection in this study was 5.35%. The rate of new HIV infection was significantly different ( p < .03674) among 1028 febrile persons (Ibadan: 2.22%; Saki: 1.36%) and blood donors (5.07%) studied. Three subtypes, CRF02_AG, A, and G, were found among those with new HIV infection. Whereas the commercial ELISA kits had very high specificities (94.12%, 100%, and 100%) for HIV‐1 detection, Alere Determine HIV‐1 antibody rapid kit had the lowest sensitivity score (50%). Conclusion Genetic diversity of HIV‐1 strains among infected individuals in Oyo State, Nigeria, is still relatively high. This high level of diversity of HIV‐1 strains may impact the reliability of diagnosis of the virus in Nigeria and other African countries where many of the virus strains co‐circulate.