Prevalence of antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus in Dominicans and Haitians in the Dominican Republic

R. E. Koenig, J. Pittaluga, M. Bogart, M. Castro, F. Nunez, I. Vilorio, L. Delvillar, M. Calzada and J. A. Levy

Few patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome have been reported in the Dominican Republic, although they share the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, which has numerous cases. Prevalence of antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus in serum samples from Dominicans tested from 1983 through 1985 was low in comparison with that of clinically healthy Haitians working in the country. The Haitians, who gave no history of any known risk factor, had a seroprevalence to the virus of more than 10%. Only Dominican homosexuals had a high rate of seropositivity (19%); intravenous drug abusers, healthy heterosexuals, female prostitutes, and other subgroups had virtually no evidence of antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus. These results suggest that passage of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome retrovirus between populations in two countries on the same island did not occur except by known risk practices. They emphasize that the extent of viral transmission in Haiti is greater than that observed in the Dominican Republic.