Low prevalence of HIV infection in Djibouti--has the AIDS epidemic come to a stop at the Horn of Africa?

To determine if the HIV-epidemic had reached Djibouti by autumn 1987, we investigated 645 subjects belonging to various risk groups; 150 were patients with a disease compatible with acquired immune deficiency or with a mycobacterial infection, 115 were young males having a sexually transmitted disease, 295 were female prostitutes, and 69 were villagers from a rural area; the remaining 16 belonged to other groups. All subjects answered an epidemiological questionnaire and had their serum tested for evidence of HIV antibodies. Eight sera were HIV-antibody positive by both ELISA and Western blot. Of these, 2 were from young men while 6 were from young women who admitted to prostitution. This accounts for an HIV seropositivity rate of 2.0% +/- 1.6% in the prostitute population. Also, one antibody-positive subject was positive for circulating HIV antigen. Seven of the seropositive individuals had no general complaints or abnormal clinical signs. The eighth subject was a 28 year old man in hospital for pneumonia. We conclude that in Djibouti, in late 1987, the prevalence of both AIDS and HIV infection in high risk individuals was much lower than that reported from other East African countries.