Bloodborne HIV: Don't Get Stuck!

Unexpected HIV infections in children, 1988-93: A hospital-based study found 60 HIV-positive children, of which 25 had been infected by blood products, while 34 had HIV-positive mothers. Risks were not determined for 1 child. Source: Gama A, Silva PC, Ferreira S, Cruz A, Carvalho A, Soares A. Epidemiology and clinical features of HIV infection among children in Cabinda, Angola, West Africa [abstract, paper presented at: Second Residential Meeting, Royal Society of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, 5-7 July 1993]. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 1993, 87: 367. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/trstmh/issue/87/4 (accessed 14 October 2018).

Unexpected HIV infections in adults: A 2015-16 national survey reported that among young men aged 15-24 years, 1.0% who said they were virgins were HIV-positive, which was more than the 0.7% for all young men aged 15-24 years. Among adults aged 15-49 years, 0.7% of self-reported virgin men and women were infected vs. 2.0% for all adults. Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística e ICF. Inquérito de Indicadores Múltiplos e de Saúde em Angola 2015-2016. Maryland: ICF. 2017. Available at: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR327/FR327.pdf (accessed 26 May 2022).   

Other infections from unsafe health care, 2004-05: Like HIV, Marburg virus lives in blood and goes from one person to another through injections and other skin-piercing procedures with reused and unsterilized instruments. Compared to HIV, Marburg virus acts fast: within weeks, killing within weeks. From October 2004 to July 2005, Marburg virus killed 227 people in Angola. Most Marburg victims, especially in the early months of the outbreak, were children infected through injections. Sources: (a) Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). Angola declares worst Marburg outbreak over. Minneapolis: CIDRAP, 2005. Available at: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/vhf/news/nov1005marburg.html (accessed 10 January 2012). (b) World Health Organization. Bringing the Marburg outbreak under control. Geneva: WHO, 2005. Available at: http://www.who.int/features/marburg2/01_en.html (accessed 10 January 2012). (c) Ndayimirije N, Kindhauser MK. Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever in Angola — Fighting Fear and a Lethal Pathogen. N Eng J Med 2005; 352: 2155-2157. Available at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp058115 (accessed 10 January 2012).