Increased HIV prevalence among individuals attending a sexually transmitted infection clinic in Yaounde,Cameroon

Abstract

Monitoring HIV prevalence among selected groups provides important data on infection trends. The present study assessed current HIV prevalence and risk correlates among 255 men and women consecutively attending a sexually transmitted infection clinic in Yaounde, Cameroon. Prevalence of 21.96% and 5.5% were found for HIV and syphilis, respectively, with a significant correlation between the two infections. Although marriage was not a significant predictor for HIV, married men were twice as likely as unmarried men to be infected; no such difference was observed for women. Inconsistent condom use was positively, but not significantly, associated with HIV. Also, age, education, and number of sex partners were not significant correlates of HIV infection. Compared to data collected in 1997, HIV prevalence in this clinic has increased nearly 6%. Our findings highlight the increasing spread of HIV infection in Cameroon and the need for additional control strategies to curb the epidemic.