Sociodemographic characteristics of HIV infection in northern India

134 patients testing positive for HIV antibody during the period 1986-1993 were included in the present study. An in-depth analysis of the subjects revealed that the adult males seemed to have the highest propensity for HIV infection in this part of the country. Marital status had no bearing on incidence and route of seropositivity. This was not so in females. Extramarital heterosexual contact was the mode of HIV acquisition in adults in contrast to blood transfusion in children. Clinically, most of these patients were still asymptomatic. At presentation, oral Candidiasis was common. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) was the leading cause of death.