HIV antibody seroprevalence in the emergency department at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea

doi:10.1111/j.1742-6723.2005.00757.x

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Wiley InterScience

Emergency Medicine Australasia

Volume 17 Issue 4, Pages 359 - 362

Published Online: 2 Aug 2005

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Official Journal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and the Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine

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Original Research

HIV antibody seroprevalence in the emergency department at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea

Chris Curry ^1,3 , Paul Bunungam ⁴ , Carolyn Annerud ^2,3 and Diro Babona ⁵

¹ Fremantle Hospital, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, ² John A Burns School of Medicines, University of Hawaii, Hawaii, USA, ³ School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Papua New Guinea, ⁴ Emergency Department and ⁵ Serology Laboratory, Port Moresby General Hospital, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Correspondence to Dr Chris Curry, Fremantle Hospital, Alma Street, Fremantle, WA 6160, Australia. Email: chriscurry1@compuserve.com

Chris Curry, FACEM, Emergency Physician, Visiting Professor in Emergency Medicine; Paul Bunungam, MB BS, Medical Officer; Carolyn Annerud, FACEP, Assistant Clinical Professor in Emergency Medicine; Diro Babona, MB BS, Director of Serology Laboratory.

KEYWORDS

emergency medicine • epidemic • HIV/AIDS • Papua New Guinea • public health

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of HIV antibody in patients presenting to the ED at Port Moresby General Hospital in Papua New Guinea.

Method: Three hundred patients in whom blood samples were taken for investigation of illness or injury between April and July 2003 were surveyed for HIV antibodies. Sex, age and presenting illness were recorded.

Results: Fifty-four tests (18%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 14–23%) were positive. Forty-seven per cent were men and 53% were women. The most common presenting illnesses were respiratory tract infections (37%) and gastrointestinal tract infections (26%). Because of resource constraints results were not linked to patients and there was no follow up.

Conclusion: These limited data support the prediction that the developing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Papua New Guinea will be serious.

Accepted 9 January 2005

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1742-6723.2005.00757.x About DOI