Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus in mental health patients

In contrast to the published data on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection in parenteral drug abusers, there is a paucity of data on prison inmates and virtually none on psychiatric inpatients. Because our facility serves each of these patients groups, we designed an anonymous seroprevalance study. We tested 1,496 unduplicated sera using sequential enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot tests. The overall prevalence of Western blot positive serum was 0.53%. The prevalence rates for the different services of our hospital, Corrections, Detoxification Program, and general Department of Mental Health inpatients, were 4.62%, 0.99%, and 0.25% respectively. While these data demonstrate the increased prevalence of HIV infection among prison inmates, they fail to show a greater prevalence among South Carolina psychiatric inpatients than among general hospital patients.