RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Human immunodeficiency virus in Saudi Arabia
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 1559
OP 1563
VO 25
IS 11
A1 Alrajhi, Abdulrahman A.
YR 2004
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/25/11/1559.abstract
AB The human immunodeficiency virus HIV type 1 has evolved as one of the most important global infectious pathogens. Although the virus had initially emerged among certain high risk groups in developed countries, it quickly gained momentum in developing countries threatening most population groups. The first case of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was diagnosed in 1984. Twenty years later, by the end of 2003, 1509 patients have been reported to have acquired HIV 1. The majority of the early infected patients have acquired HIV 1 from blood product transfusion. Subsequently, the most prevalent mode of transmission became heterosexual. In this review, the distribution of HIV infected persons, prevalence data, and future outlook are presented. Communities considered conservative are not immune from a sexually transmissible virus that has infected 60,000,000 people globally.