Routine antepartum human immunodeficiency virus infection screening in an inner-city population

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection occurs disproportionately among inner-city minority women of reproductive age. Once pregnant, these women have a high risk of delivering infants with perinatally acquired infection. Identification and counseling of HIV-infected parturients may be an effective means of preventing perinatal HIV infection. Few data are available on the seroprevalence of HIV infection in the inner-city population or on the clinical and demographic determinants of risk. To better characterize HIV infection in inner-city parturients in Atlanta, we conducted routine antepartum screening for HIV antibody in 3472 women. Ten (2.8 per 1000) were seropositive on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot testing. Four women were seropositive on repeat ELISA but negative on Western blot. Four infected women had had heterosexual contact with a person at risk for HIV, three were intravenous drug users, one had possibly become infected via blood transfusion, and two had no apparent risk factors. Seven of the seropositive women had no self-identified risk factors and would not have been identified if screening had been performed using current Centers for Disease Control criteria. Ten percent of the women screened had self-identified risk factors for HIV infection and were seronegative. Ninety-six percent of women consented to HIV testing. These data suggest that inner-city parturients in Atlanta are at risk for HIV infection and that routine antepartum HIV screening can be performed provided the appropriate multidisciplinary team is in place for counseling and follow-up.