TITLE:
Knowledge Regarding Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV among a Group of Adults in a Low Income Country
AUTHORS:
Epee Ngoue Jeannette, Sime Tchouamo Arielle Annick, Kamo Selangai Helene, Mboua Batoum Véronique, Tony Nengom Jocelyn, Kago Tague Daniel Armand, Brice Touka, Kouam Euranie, Essomba Aurore Albane, Nguefack Felicitée
KEYWORDS:
HIV, PMTCT, Infant, Knowledge
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.13 No.6,
November
30,
2023
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Despite communication on Human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), close to 5.9 million people didn’t know they were
living with HIV. One of the modes of transmission of HIV is vertical
transmission. It remains the principal way of transmission of HIV for children
below 15 years, with over 90% of them being infected. In Cameroon, the mother
and child transmission of HIV is still a problem with 5.5% of infection of
exposed infant at the early infant diagnosis in 2019. Awareness on prevention
of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) is an important component for the fight
against HIV. We therefore aimed at gauging the level of knowledge of a group of
adult clients on HIV and PMTCT. Methodology: We conducted a cross sectional and
analytical study at the Yaoundé Gyneco-Obstetric and Pediatric hospital for a
period of one month. Were included, adults who visited the hospital for a free
screening campaign on HIV. Data were collected using a questionnaire on their
characteristics and knowledge of HIV and PMTCT. Data were entered using CSPro
and analysed using IBM SPSS. Results: There was a gap in knowledge on HIV,
considering satisfactory knowledge from 25 points and above, it was noted that
34.6% of our respondents had a non-satisfactory knowledge. For PMTCT, knowledge
was average with the majority scoring 10 points on 18. Considering satisfactory
knowledge on PMTCT was from 10 and above, 35.9% of our respondents had a non-satisfactory
knowledge. Female sex was associated with satisfactory knowledge for both HIV
and PMTCT. Conclusion: Concerning PMTCT, the knowledge of the mode of
transmission, Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for prevention to the babies or
feedings recommendations on exposed HIV infants were poor. There is a gap in
favor of women regarding knowledge between HIV and PMTCT. Therefore, men are
highly encouraged to take part to health promotion activities on HIV and PMTCT.