Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of HIV I & II antibodies among prisoners in Lagos State.
Patients & methods: A total of 300 male prisoners from Kirikiri Maximum and Medium security prisons and Ikoyi prisons had their blood samples screened for antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types I & II by ELISA-based technique using immunocomb II HIV I & II Bispot kits. Samples that were positive were confirmed by another ELISA-based technique using immunocomb I & II combifirm kits.
Results: The seroprevalence of HIV antibodies was 6.7, which translated to 20 of the 300 prisoners screened. Only one (0.3) of the prisoners had HIV II infection, the rest being due to HIV I. There was no prisoner with concomitant HIV I & II infection. The age groups 20-29 and 30-39 were most affected.
Conclusion: The finding of 6.7 as prevalence in this study, which is slightly higher than the national prevalence in the year 2000 confirms that there may be activities in the prisons that increase the risk of acquiring HIV infection.