RESUMEN
There is controversy on whether or not patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) on chronic hemodialysis (HD) should be routinely tested for the prsence of HIV-antibody (HIV-Ab) in their blood. Several reports have appeared in the literature reporting incidence from 0 to 11%. A total of 227 patients receiving chronic HD; at the University and San Juan City Hospital, from January to December 1987 were screened for the presence of HIV-Ab by the ELISA method. Those reported as positive were confirmed by the Western Blot method. HIV-Ab presence was reported and confirmed in 9 patients (4%). Five of these patients (2%) were IV drug abusers, 2 (0.9%) homosexual, 1 (0.4%) had history of sexual promiscuity and 1 (0.4%) had been exposed to multiple blood transfusion (MBT) prior to HIV testing of blood. Our prevalence was 7%. However when risk factors other than MBT were excluded the prevalence was 0.4%. The incidence and prevalence of HIV positive cases in our hemodialysis populations is comparable to that previously reported