HIV Seropositivity in Patients with First-Episode Psychosis (Clinical Report‪)‬

South Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe HIV epidemics in the world. (1) By the end of 2005 there were 5.5 million people living with HIV in South Africa. (2) Current population studies (1) estimate that HIV has infected 23% of the South African population, and that 13% of all people worldwide living with HIV live in South Africa. The levels of HIV infection tend to vary across different geographical regions in South Africa. Provincial data show that HIV incidence is higher in the northern and eastern provinces, and lower in the southern and western provinces. HIV incidence is also lower in the deep rural Northern Cape (12%) and Eastern Cape (16%). Of the 9 provinces, KwaZulu-Natal has the highest prevalence rate. (2) Recent statistics indicate a 39.1% prevalence rate among antenatal clinic attendees in KwaZulu-Natal, compared with 15.7% in the Western Cape. The reasons for these variations are not clear. (2) An unpublished study on the seroprevalence of HIV infection and associated psychiatric syndromes in certified adult black male patients at Town Hill and Fort Napier hospitals done in 1992 revealed a seroprevalence rate of 2% (S D Chetty--unpublished data, 1992). A subsequent study on the prevalence of HIV infection among admissions to Town Hill Hospital in 2003 revealed a prevalence rate of 26.5% (K Mestry--unpublished data). Based on the above results and the escalating spread of HIV infection, one would assume that there would be high prevalence rates of HIV infection in patients presenting with first-episode psychosis (FEP).