Objective: To study the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence of residents living in a village located in rural region of central China where the paid blood donors used to be popular.
Methods: All residents of one village "ZY" were asked to participate in HIV serologic screening test. Those over the age of 16 and participated in HIV serologic test was followed to undergo an indoor interview a week later, to finish a questionnaire, which including information on demography, marital status, smoking and drinking habits, history of blood donation, sexual behavior and history of drug use. Names on those either died from AIDS or having HIV serologic testing before were collected from local hospitals and the Center of Disease Control and Prevention.
Results: There were in total 2364 residents in 527 households in "ZY" village including 1551 residents participated in the HIV serologic screening test, and 926 completed questionnaires. A total of 115 HIV seropositive residents were found in the HIV screening. 5 had been undergone HIV screening tests before, and 24 died of AIDS. The HIV prevalence of the whole population was 9.1% (CI: 7.7% - 10.6%). There were 19.6% households had at least one member living with HIV, out of which 25% had over two HIV seropositive members. No significant difference was found between genders with respect to HIV prevalence. 40 - 50 years old group had the highest HIV prevalence, significantly differed from other age groups. The HIV prevalence among former paid blood donors was 22.4%. The proportions of getting HIV infection through routes of blood transfusion, sex and mother-to-child, were 0.9%, 9.6% and 5.2% respectively among 115 HIV seropositive residents.
Conclusion: Some villages in the rural regions of central China showed high HIV prevalence. Former paid blood donation was responsible for the main transmission route in these villages. However, sexual transmission and mother-to-child transmission were becoming dominant routes in general population which called for effective action be taken to contain the spread of HIV.