Abstract:
Background: The occurrence of HIV-1 and syphilis infections during pregnancy poses major health risks to the foetus
due to mother-to-child transmission. We conducted surveillance of HIV and syphilis infections among pregnant women
attending antenatal clinics (ANCs) in Mainland Tanzania in 2011.
Methods: This surveillance was carried out in 133 ANCs selected from 21 regions in Tanzania. In each region, six ANC
sites were selected, with urban, semi-urban, and rural areas contributing two each. All pregnant women who
were attending selected sentinel ANC sites for the first time at any pregnancy between September and December 2011
were enrolled. Serial ELISA assays were performed to detect HIV infection in an unlinked anonymous manner using dried
blood spot (DBS) after routine syphilis testing. Data analysis was conducted using Stata v.12 software.
Results: A total of 39,698 pregnant women representing 2.4 % of all pregnant women (1.68 million) attending ANCs in
the Mainland Tanzania were enrolled. The overall HIV prevalence was found to be 5.6 % (95 % CI: 5.4–5.8 %). The risk for
HIV infection was significantly higher among women aged 25–34 (cOR = 1.97, 95 % CI: 1.79–2.16; p < 0.05), older than
35 years (cOR = 1.88, 95 % CI: 1.62–2.17; p < 0.05) and those having 1–2 and 3–4 previous pregnancies. HIV infection was
less prevalent among women attending rural ANC clinics (cOR = 0.46, 95 % CI 0.4–0.52; p < 0.05).
The overall syphilis prevalence was 2.5 % (95 % CI: 2.3, 3.6). The risk for syphilis infection was significantly higher among
women attending semi-urban and rural clinics and those having 3–4, and 5 previous pregnancies (p < 0.05). Marital status
and level of education were not statistically significant with either of the two infections. HIV and syphilis co-infections
occurred in 109 of 38,928 (0.3 %).
Conclusion: The overall prevalence of HIV infection (5.6 %) and syphilis (2.5 %) found among pregnant women
attending ANC clinics in Tanzania calls for further strengthening of current intervention measures, which include scaling
up the integration of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services in Reproductive and Child Health
(RCH) clinics.
