ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] seroconversion in pregnancy for effective prevention of its mother to child transmission
Design: Longitudinal study
Setting: Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Bayelsa, Nigeria
Subjects: One hundred and sixty pregnant mothers who booked for prenatal care within the first 20 weeks of gestation and were negative to HIV testing at the booking visit were recruited, followed up and retested for HIV seropositivity on delivery at term. Data was collected from 1st September 2015 to 31st May 2016
Intervention: Prenatal counselling on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV
Main outcome measure: The incidence of HIV seroconversion on delivery at term
Results: There was no HIV seropositivity at term, there was zero seroconversion in this data. The mean age of the respondents was 30.2 +/- 4.5 years and ranged from 19 - 43 years. Over 92% of the participants attained secondary level of education or above, about the same proportion [95%] was married and 29% was unemployed. There was a low level of HIV-related risk behaviours among the participants
Conclusion: The zero prenatal HIV seroconversion in this study indicates significant progress in intervention programs against HIV transmission in Nigeria. The findings set the stage for sustained efforts in every part of the country.Periodic nationwide studies are recommended