Article Text
Abstract
Objectives Opt out antenatal HIV testing has significantly reduced mother to child transmission of HIV, but seroconversion during pregnancy from undiagnosed HIV positive male partners remains a risk. The authors report on a pilot initiative for sexual health and HIV screening for male partners of women attending antenatal ultrasound examination at Homerton Hospital, London.
Methods Men attending with their female partners for routine ultrasound examination between 1 August 2010 and 31 January 2011 were offered on-site serology for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C and urine testing for Neiserria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis. Results were followed up through the genitourinary medicine service. Referral pathways were established for men with positive results.
Results 1243 male partners of 2400 women attended ultrasound examinations, of whom 430 accepted testing (acceptance rate 35% and coverage rate 18%). Median age was 32 years (range 19–52). 112/430 (26%) male partners were of black ethnicity. 41% had previously had a HIV test. There was no difference in prior HIV testing between whites and non-whites. 16 infections were diagnosed, including two cases of hepatitis C, eight cases of hepatitis B and six cases of C trachomatis. No HIV diagnoses were made.
Conclusions The authors have shown that it is acceptable and feasible to engage heterosexual men for testing in this setting. Of those men who accepted HIV testing, more than half had never been previously tested. 4% of men tested had an infection, which had the potential to affect the outcome of the pregnancy.
- HIV testing
- women's health
- antenatal HIV testing
- anteretroviral therapy
- sexual assault
- testing
- sexual health
- HIV
- contraception
- women's issues
- immigrants
- social/policy perspectives
- risk factors
- same day testing
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Footnotes
Funding Gilead Fellowship Programme award 2010. Keeping Strong: Healthy Fathers Project.
Competing interests None.
Ethics approval This is a service intervention, not a research study. Hence ethics approval is not needed for the study.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.