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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 76(4), 2007, pp. 703-705
Copyright © 2007 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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SHORT REPORT


HIGH PREVALENCE OF HIV AND SYPHILIS IN A REMOTE NATIVE COMMUNITY OF THE PERUVIAN AMAZON

CAROL ZAVALETA, CONNIE FERNÁNDEZ, KELIKA KONDA, YADIRA VALDERRAMA, STEN H. VERMUND, AND EDUARDO GOTUZZO*
Instituto de Medicina Tropical "Alexander von Humboldt," Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru; Hospital de Apoyo Yurimaguas, Loreto, Peru; Facultad de Salud Pública, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

 

ABSTRACT

Little data are available on how HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) affect indigenous people in Latin America, including Peru. We conducted a sero-epidemiologic survey of HIV infection and syphilis in a native community, the Chayahuita, an indigenous population in the Amazon region of Peru. The seroprevalences of HIV and syphilis in adults were 7.5% (6 of 80) and 6.3% (5 of 80), respectively. None of the participants had ever used a condom. Male to male sexual behavior was common. At the current levels of HIV prevalence, there is the risk of a negative impact on the survival of the Chayahuita ethnic group as a whole. The outcomes of this study highlight the need for urgent medical and anthropologic approaches to stop HIV transmission in indigenous Amazonian communities.

Received June 25, 2006. Accepted for publication August 21, 2006.

Financial support: This study was supported by U.S. Public Health Service National Institutes of Health/Fogarty International Center Global Infectious Disease Training Grant, "Endemic Infectious Diseases of the Peruvian Amazon," D43 TW007120 (EG, Peruvian Program Director).

* Address correspondence to Eduardo Gotuzzo, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, IMTAvH, Honorio Delgado Avenue 430, San Martín de Porres, Lima, Peru. E-mail: egh{at}upch.edu.pe

Authors’ addresses: Carol Zavaleta, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, IMTAvH, Honorio Delgado Avenue 430, San Martín de Porres, Lima, Peru, Telephone: 51-1-4823910, E-mail: carol_zavaleta{at}yahoo.com. Connie Fernández, Alfonso Ugarte Avenue 426, Yurimaguas, Alto Amazonas, Loreto, Peru, E-mail: Connieaqp{at}yahoo.com. Kelika Konda, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Av. Armendariz 445, Miraflores, Lima 18, Peru, Telephone: 310-694-3572, E-mail: kelika_konda{at}hotmail.com. Yadira Valderrama, Alfonso Ugarte Avenue 426, Yurimaguas, Alto Amazonas, Loreto, Peru, E-mail: yadival3025{at}yahoo.com. Sten H. Vermund, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 2201 West End Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. E-mail: sten.vermund{at}vanderbilt.edu. Eduardo Gotuzzo, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, IM-TAvH, Honorio Delgado Avenue 430, San Martín de Porres, Lima, Peru, Telephone: 51-1-4823910, E-mail: egh{at}upch.edu.pe.






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Copyright © 2007 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.