Abstract
Adolescents and young adults are at high risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Previous reports have found that university students in Africa comprise a sexually active population, although the prevalence of HIV or sexually transmitted infections (STI) has not been measured. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of students from five large universities in Kampala, Uganda, using respondent-driven sampling. We asked students to complete behavioral questionnaires and provide biological samples to test for HIV, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Treponema pallidum, Trichomonas vaginalis, and bacterial vaginosis. We enrolled 649 students and obtained interpretable data from 640. Around 50% of the respondents were male, and the mean age was 22 years. An estimated 0.8% (95% CI 0.0–2.0) of male students had Chlamydia infection, approximately 4.3% (95% CI 2.0–7.0) had syphilis, 0.4% (95% CI 0.0–0.9) had HIV, and none had gonorrhea. An estimated 32.6% (95% CI 22.4–40.8) of women had bacterial vaginosis, 2.5% (95% CI 0.7–6.3) had Chlamydia infection, 1.7% (95% CI 0.5–3.6) had syphilis, 1.0% (95% CI 0.0–2.4) had gonorrhea, 0.9% (95% CI 0.0–4.2) had trichomoniasis, and 0.9% (95% CI 0.0–1.8) had HIV. We found no significant risk factors for HIV or other STI among males. We also found that not using a condom during the latest sexual intercourse was significantly associated with HIV infection, other STI, or bacterial vaginosis (OR 2.16; 95% 1.26–3.78) among females. We conclude that while university students are sexually active and there is substantial risk for syphilis, there is little evidence of substantially increased HIV risk among them.
Acknowledgments
The Crane Survey Group included Wolfgang Hladik, Joseph Barker, David Serwadda, George Lubwama, Danstan Bagenda, Rachel King, Alex Opio, Tom Tenywa, Edith Nakku-Joloba, Michael Muyonga, John Ssenkusu, Avi Hakim, Kimberley Dills, Sylvia Nakayiwa, David Katuntu, Frank Kaharuza, and Jordan Tappero.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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