Here is a summary of what is known about the prevalence of HIV-1 and HIV-2 in Ghana:
– Ghana has a generalized HIV epidemic, with an estimated adult HIV prevalence of 1.7% in 2020.
– HIV-1 is the predominant strain, accounting for over 95% of HIV infections.
– HIV-2 represents only a small fraction of HIV cases in Ghana.
– In a study published in 2021, HIV-2 prevalence was 0.14% among over 300,000 blood donors tested between 2015-2019 in Ghana.
– A study in 2018 found 0.8% HIV-2 prevalence among HIV positive patients at a hospital in Ghana’s Ashanti Region.
– HIV-2 prevalence was found to be 1.3% among female sex workers in Accra, Ghana’s capital.
– A study of HIV positive patients at a clinic in Ghana’s Eastern Region detected HIV-2 in 5% of participants.
– The highest reported HIV-2 prevalence comes from Ghana’s Upper West region, at 8% among HIV positive individuals in a 2014 study.
– Dual infection with HIV-1 and HIV-2 is uncommon but has been detected in Ghana at low frequencies.
– A study in 2018 found HIV-1/HIV-2 co-infection prevalence of 0.56% among over 300,000 blood donors tested across Ghana between 2015-2019.
– A study at a teaching hospital in Kumasi, Ghana detected HIV-1/HIV-2 co-infection in 0.94% of HIV positive patients.
– Another study in Kumasi found a co-infection rate of 1.9% among HIV positive pregnant women.
– A study in Accra, Ghana’s capital, found 4.3% of female sex workers living with HIV had HIV-1/HIV-2 co-infection.
– The highest rate has been reported in Ghana’s Upper West region at 18% co-infection prevalence among HIV positive individuals.
– Co-infection poses challenges for diagnosis and clinical management due to viral interference.
In conclusion, national population prevalence of HIV-2 in Ghana is likely less than 0.5%. However, pockets of higher HIV-2 prevalence exist, particularly in the north and among certain high-risk groups. Routine screening and surveillance for HIV-2 is important given its intrinsic resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. More population-based studies would help better define HIV-2 epidemiology in Ghana.
HIV-1/HIV-2 co-infection appears to be present at low population-level frequencies in most parts of Ghana, but may exceed 5-10% in certain higher risk groups or regions. Additional surveillance and epidemiological studies would help better define the prevalence and distribution of co-infections to inform testing and treatment programs.