Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in a heterosexual population in Zaire

38 patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were identified in Kinshasa, Zaire, during a 3 week period in 1983. The male to female ratio was 1.1:1. The annual case rate for Kinshasa was estimated to be at least 17 per 100 000. Opportunistic infections were diagnosed in 32 (84%) patients, disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) with opportunistic infection in 5 (13%), and disseminated KS alone in 1 patient. Immunological characteristics of these patients were as reported for cases in the USA and Europe, but immunological abnormalities were also found in 6 controls with infectious diseases but no symptoms of AIDS. Female AIDS cases were younger than male patients with AIDS (mean ages 28.4 vs 41.1 years, respectively), and were more often single (14/18 vs 2/20). Homosexuality, intravenous drug abuse, and blood transfusion did not appear to be risk factors in these patients. The findings of this study strongly argue that the situation in central Africa represents a new epidemiological setting for this worldwide disease--that of significant transmission in a large heterosexual population. Two instances of clusters of AIDS (not included in the above series) involving males and females with frequent heterosexual contact further implicate heterosexual transmission.