Britain鈥檚 first programme to test people anonymously for HIV has shown
that overall 1 in 500 pregnant women in inner London is infected with the
virus. An earlier study found about 1 woman in 2000 infected.
鈥楾he results reinforce our earlier messages that HIV and AIDS are increasing
in the heterosexual population,鈥� said Donald Acheson, the Chief Medical
Officer.
Last week, the antenatal clinic at St Thomas鈥檚 Hospital reported 18
of 4106 pregnant women tested in 1990 to be HIV-positive. This is a ninefold
increase on a study by the same team at the hospital in 1988. Over the same
period, the number of pregnant women infected with hepatitis B virus has
not increased, suggesting that sexual intercourse, not intravenous drug
use, is responsible for the increase (The Lancet, vol 337, p 1218).
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