ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains a major global public health problem. This study aimed to obtain current epidemiological data on the Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in Mogadishu, Somalia. METHODS: This study included 92,270 anti-HIV test results reported for 82,954 different individuals between 2015 and 2019. HIV tests were performed using the Architect HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay and retested with the Elecsys HIV combi PT assay. RESULTS: HIV seropositivity was found to be 0.32% (269/82,954) in all individuals over a period of four years. Anti-HIV seropositivity in the 0 - 14, 15 - 19, 15 - 24, 15 - 49, and > 15 age groups were as follows: 0.17% (11/6,441), 0.17% (12/7,131), 0.15% (35/24,132), 0.37% (212/56,895), and 0.34% (258/76,513), respectively. In HIV-infected patients, anti-HBs, HBsAg, anti-HCV, and anti-TP (syphilis) seropositivity was found to be 30.3% (56/185), 9.54% (23/241), 1.24% (3/242), and 3.45% (2/58), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study provide comprehensive data on the HIV epidemiology in Somalia. We believe that the results presented in this study will contribute to the risk analysis and planning of preventive policies of national and global health organizations.
