RESUMEN
To assess the impact of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) infection on the patients treated at the Medicine Department of the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in Haiti and the economic costs to this institution that their medical care caused, a group of HIV infected patients was followed and compared to a control group of non-infected patients. Infected patients had a significantly higher number of diagnoses suggestive of HIV infection and of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and also had a higher rate of mortality during the follow-up period. Infected patients attended the out-patient Medicine Clinic and were hospitalized more frequently than non-infected patients. The yearly cost of treating an HIV patient was estimated to be about US $860. We suggest that a wider use of HIV testing might be beneficial among patients such as ours for providing adequate care for them if the necessary resources are made available.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones por VIH/economía , Hospitales Rurales/economía , Salud Rural , Adulto , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Infecciones por VIH/complicaciones , Infecciones por VIH/epidemiología , Haití/epidemiología , Gastos en Salud , Hospitales Rurales/estadística & datos numéricos , Humanos , Masculino , Población Rural , Distribución por SexoRESUMEN
To estimate the prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) among the patients attending the out-patient Medicine Clinic of the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti, the serum samples of 535 consecutive patients were examined for HIV-1 antibodies by enzyme immunoassay. One hundred and twelve sera (20.9%) tested positive (19.3% of the in-district patients and 27.6% of the out-district patients). We concluded that HIV-1 infection has already spread to rural areas in Haiti and that we should prepare ourselves for the impact that the increasing number of infected patients will have.