[Retrovirus HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection in populations at risk. Estremadura]

In order to know the frequency and distribution of the human immunodeficiency viruses types 1 and 2 (HIV-1, HIV-2) in Estremadura, a seroepidemiological study is carried out during 1989 in a population sample of 756 persons at risk. In the global sample, no case of HIV-2 infection is detected, with the frequency of HIV-1 infection being 47.49%. The sample includes 633 persons addicted to parenteral drugs with a HIV-1 frequency of 43.28% and 123 people exposed to the remaining forms of HIV infection, sexual contact with patients or carriers, those receiving blood derivatives, those with multiple transfusions and the offspring of parents at risk with seropositivity of 69.10%. The greatest frequency of HIV-1 infection in the drug-addict population is found in the age group of 20-29 years, with multiple addictions, male. It is associated with different forms of infection by Hepatitis B virus in 78.08% of the global sample, in 77.52% of the addicts and in 80% of the non-addict population. Due to the sample's characteristic of a high prevalence of HIV-1; the significance of the absence of HIV-2 is increased. These results also suggest that the AIDS syndromes and the AIDS Related Complex (A.R.C.) will be found in Estremadura in the coming years associated with HIV-1 infections, while in our opinion the epidemiological vigilance of HIV-2 infection should be maintained in spite of the results obtained, with combined HIV-1/HIV-2 immuno-enzymatic techniques being introduced into the screening tests.