Prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis and HIV in females living in a rural community of Zimbabwe: does age matter?

Ndhlovu PD, Mduluza T, Kjetland EF, Midzi N, Nyanga L, Gundersen SG, Friis H, Gomo E

Journal title: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 2007 May;101(5):433-8

PMID: 17064746

Article on PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17064746

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 544 women living in Mupfure rural area of Zimbabwe to determine whether infection with urinary schistosomiasis is associated with HIV infection. Schistosoma haematobium infection was examined in urine samples and HIV infection was determined in sera. The prevalence of S. haematobium infection was highest (60%) in women below 20 years of age and declined to 29% in the oldest age group (test for trends, P<0.001). Overall, women infected with urinary schistosomiasis had an HIV prevalence of 33.3%, whilst women without urinary schistosomiasis had an HIV prevalence of 25.6% (chi(2), P=0.053). Women above the age of 35 years and infected with urinary schistosomiasis had a significantly higher HIV prevalence (37.5%) than those without urinary schistosomiasis (16.8%; chi(2), P<0.001).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17064746