An expanding body of evidence challenges the conventional hypothesis that sexual transmission is responsible for more than 90% of adult HIV infections in Africa. Differences in epidemic trajectories across Africa do not correspond to differences in sexual behavior. Studies among African couples find low rates of heterosexual transmission, as in developed countries. Many studies report HIV infections in African adults with no sexual exposure to HIV and in children with HIV-negative mothers. Unexplained high rates of HIV incidence have been observed in African women during antenatal and postpartum periods. Many studies show 20%-40% of HIV infections in African adults associated with injections (though direction of causation is unknown). These and other findings that challenge the conventional hypothesis point to the possibility that HIV transmission through unsafe medical care may be an important factor in Africa's HIV epidemic.
Although the authors of the article dance around the issue, the primary cause of the HIV epidemic in Africa appears to be the reuse of hypodermic needles. Both Marburg and Ebola have been spread nosocomially in Africa, but in that case the evidence is so immediate and bloody that no one questions it.
PlagueBlog recommends against seeking medical care in sub-Saharan Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment