http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/HIV/brewer1/

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STD & AIDS, Volume 14: Pages 144-147,
March 2003.

Mounting anomalies in the epidemiology of HIV
in Africa: cry the beloved paradigm

Devon D Brewer PhD1, Stuart Brody PhD2, Ernest Drucker PhD3,
David Gisselquist PhD4, Stephen F Minkin BA6, John J Potterat BA5,
Richard B Rothenberg MD MPH7 and François Vachon MD8

(Authors are listed alphabetically)

1University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA, 2Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral
Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Germany, 3Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine,
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City, USA, 4Hershey, PA,
USA, 5Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, 6Network for Infection Prevention, Brattleboro, Vermont
05302, USA, 7 Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine,
Atlanta, GA, USA, 8University of Paris 7, France

Keywords: HIV, Africa, risk factors, epidemiology, heterosexual transmission, medical transmission
Introduction

There is substantial dissonance between much of the epidemiologic evidence and the current orthodoxy
that nearly all of the HIV burden in sub-Saharan Africa can be accounted for by heterosexual
transmission and the sexual behaviour of Africans. The mounting toll of HIV infection in Africa is
paralleled by a mounting number of anomalies in the many studies seeking to account for it. We
propose that existing data can no longer be reconciled with the received wisdom about the
exceptional role of sex in the African AIDS epidemic.
Anomalies in sub-Saharan Africa

Discontinuity between HIV and STIs During the 1990s HIV propagated rapidly in Zimbabwe, increasing
at an estimated rate of 12% annually. At the same time, the overall sexually transmitted infections
(STI) burden declined an estimated 25% and while there was a parallel increase in reported condom
use by high-risk persons (prostitutes, lorry drivers, miners, and young people)1. This example
frames the problem: why would a relatively low efficiency sexually transmitted virus like HIV outrun
more efficiently transmitted STI2? In the notable four-cities study3, many common sexual risk
factors linked to HIV transmission (eg, high rate of partner change, sex with prostitutes, and low
condom use) were not correlated with HIV prevalence-although some risk markers (young age at first
coitus or marriage, large age difference between partners) and presumed facilitating factors (lack
of circumcision, genital herpes, and trichomoniasis, but not bacterial STI) were. In addition,
concurrency of sexual partnerships was not correlated with HIV prevalence, yet was associated with
bacterial STI4.It is of concern that many key sexual transmission variables are not associated with
a large HIV epidemic in Africa, yet do correlate, as expected, with other STIs.
Transmission efficiency

A study of HIV transmission efficiency in Africa, using data from serodiscordant couples5, produced
estimates remarkably similar to those reported for couples in the developed world6. Observed
probabilities presumably reflect some of the influence of facilitating factors (eg, unorthodox
sexual practices, circumcision status, STI exposure, etc) recruited to explain the 'turbo effect'7
noted in Africa's epidemiologic context. Recent empiric research casts doubt that such co-factors
can sufficiently amplify the force of infectivity to account for observed trends in the sexual
transmission of HIV in Africa8. The anomalies regarding transmission efficiency are well illustrated
by a recent study in South Africa9. The authors recognized that, to explain HIV acquisition by 16-18
year old women in their study, they needed to postulate a per partnership transmission probability
of 0.92 (0.49, assuming double the number of reported partnerships per woman). By extension, the
per-contact probability of transmission would be 0.34, making heterosexual sex in this context
second only to transfusion in HIV transmission efficiency. Similarly, a model developed to assess
the impact of STI on transmission of HIV posited an extraordinary 33-fold increase in transmission
efficiency of the latter in the presence of the former10.
Reported sexual activity

Levels of sexual activity reported in a dozen general population surveys in Africa11 are comparable
to those reported elsewhere, especially in North America and Europe. Perhaps more importantly, there
appears to be little correlation with the level of risky sexual behaviour shown in these surveys and
the epidemic trajectories observed in these countries. (Comparison with country-specific data
reported by UNAIDS 2000; data not shown.) The four-city study provides similar discordance12. For
example, Yaounde (in Cameroon, a nation with low and stable prevalence) had the highest level of
risky behavioural markers. Ndola (in Zambia, a nation that has experienced a rapid rise in HIV) had
the smallest proportion of both men and women who reported a non-spousal sex partner in the previous
12 months. Ndola's other markers were similar to those in Dakar, Senegal and Cotonou, Benin, other
areas with low, stable prevalence.
Transmission dynamics

Rapid propagation (of at least bacterial STI) has been associated with core groups13, which make up
a small proportion of the susceptible population and are proposed to be responsible for most
community transmission. Such groups appear to be associated with differing forms of sexual net-work
'geometry'. This geometry demonstrably differs with transmission intensity14-16. Evidence suggests
that endemic and declining HIV/STI burdens are associated with dendritic (many open-ended termini)
patterns of sexual partner connections, while epidemicity is associated with cyclic (closed loops,
reflecting cohesiveness and density) patterns. There are few data on the architecture of sociosexual
networks in Africa, but the available information suggests predominantly dendritic patterns (eg,
contact with prostitutes and then contact with stable and usually monogamous consorts who are
network termini). We are aware of no study from sub-Saharan Africa suggesting cyclic sexual network
architecture. Without evidence of appropriate network configurations on a scale considerably larger
than that observed in developed countries, rapid propagation of HIV in Africa would be difficult to
sustain.

Studies have associated putative sexual core groups with HIV transmission in Africa. For example,
women who work as prostitutes and their partners have frequently been observed to have high HIV
prevalence. Confusion may arise, however, over conflating the terms 'high risk person' and 'core
group'. The former have been labelled in some way, but are not necessarily part of an interconnected
group of individuals through whom infection percolates (ie, core group). As noted, such persons
would have to be part of an interactive, cyclic group, rather than nodes along a dendritic chain.
Other anomalous findings

A higher HIV prevalence has been observed in women seen in prenatal, postpartum, and induced
abortion settings than in their community counter-parts17. In a number of studies, there appears to
be a discrepancy between the observed prevalence in women undergoing reproductive medical care, and
the prevalence that would be observed in such a group from heterosexual transmission alone. Though
few in number, there continue to be reports of HIV seropositivity in persons denying coital exposure
and in persons claiming a sole lifetime sexual partner who is reportedly HIV negative17. Similarly,
there are persistent reports of HIV in infants with seronegative mothers17. A recent large survey
from South Africa measured an HIV prevalence of 5.6% in children 2-14 years of age 18. Given
mortality from HIV among children who acquire it in Africa, there would appear to be a substantial
proportion of such a disease burden that is unexplained by maternal and sexual transmission.
Alternatives

A number of these observations raise the question of an alternative route of transmission, for which
medical care and the use of injections are prime candidates17,19-22. Prostitutes, for example, are
often recruited for studies from STI clinics, where treatment is frequently given by injection,
where non-sterile equipment is used with high frequency, and wherein the underlying prevalence of
HIV is high7. Many studies that have assessed the impact of sexual activity on HIV
transmission -notably those in Mwanza and Rakai, whose discordant results are still a subject of
debate23-failed to consider the potential confounding effects of medical care in the propagation of
HIV24.

Rapid HIV transmission in Africa has often occurred in countries with good access to medical care,
like Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. For example, high rates in rural South Africa have
paralleled aggressive efforts to deliver health care to rural populations. It is difficult to
understand how improved access to health care, with its offers of public health messages, free
condoms, and preventive services, would be associated with increased HIV transmission. Similarly,
HIV prevalence is often higher in cities and among persons of high socioeconomic attainment than in
rural areas or among less fortunate persons. Favourable access to health care is one of the
differences that distinguishes between these groups.
Reactions to the anomalies and alternatives

Since early in the African epidemic, when AIDS was demographically associated with sexually active
populations25, studies of HIV transmission in Africa have generally failed to control for possible
parenteral confounding26. The importance of this route of infection was well known in the West and
in Asia but quickly dismissed in Africa27. The risk of parenteral transmission of HIV is based on
good estimates of transmission efficiency, which varies depending on type of injection and
circumstances that produce reuse of contaminated equipment. For example, needle stick exposure (HIV
transmission probability: about one in 30028, medical injection (recently estimated at approximately
one in 3020), or illicit-drug injection (about one in 10029), is much more efficient than
penile-vaginal exposure (about one in 100030).

There is the expectation that, were iatrogenic transmission of HIV common, one would notice
substantial HIV prevalence in populations of (non-sexually experienced) children. Regrettably,
although a large proportion of Africa's population falls in that category, few serosurveys conducted
in Africa have included large enough samples from, say, children aged five through 12 to confidently
dismiss this possibility. As more information accumulates that addresses this issue, a clearer
perspective on the magnitude of non-sexual, non-maternal transmission in children will emerge.

The risk of exposure to HIV via medical injections is likely to vary with background prevalence and
with the specific medical practices in different settings. The demand for consistency and coherence
that we have placed on the heterosexual hypothesis should be applied to estimating the role of
medical transmission. Its role should vary with background (initial) prevalence, and should be
related to the degree of medical hygiene exercised. The same biological basis that exists for
heterosexual transmission should be established for medical transmission. (As an aside, such a
demonstration poses substantial ethical problems. No investigator should knowingly observe the use
of a needle that has a high probability of being contaminated with HIV, but at a minimum, the
demonstration of HIV RNA in needles that were to have been used on patients would be an important
element in establishing a biological base.) The transmission of blood-borne pathogens with differing
biological characteristics, notably hepatitis B and C31, should be consistent with parenteral
transmission of HIV. Finally, the social epidemiology of HIV (male to female ratios, for example)
should be consistent with observations about non-sexual exposure.
Conclusion

In North America, Europe, and many parts of Asia, the ignition of regional epidemics and rapid HIV
transmission has been associated principally with the sharing of contaminated injecting equipment
and with anal intercourse. Though heterosexual intercourse has been virtually the sole explanation
offered for the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, to our knowledge in no other part of the world
has penile-vaginal exposure (as opposed to 'heterosexual sex') been demonstrated to initiate or
sustain rapid HIV propagation.

HIV is not transmitted by 'sex', but only by specific risky practices. It is not transmitted by
'injections', but only by contaminated implements, which need to be clearly differentiated as to
type and frequency of injection and by the conditions of the exposure setting. In virtually all
societies affected by HIV to date, both routes seem to play important roles. If we are to understand
and intervene in each of these epidemics, well-designed studies at both the population and
individual levels are urgently needed. It is vital that these be properly controlled for parenteral
exposure, specific sexual practices, and other co-factors2,17,24,32 and the complex and specific
social patterns and networks that accompany them33.

Dispassionate assessment of our conclusions admittedly depends on a willing suspension of disbelief,
since the current paradigm is deeply embedded. Counter arguments can (and will) be levelled at each
of the anomalies noted, but the depth and breadth of concerns deserve fair scrutiny. At issue in a
re-evaluation of the heterosexual hypothesis are the profound implications for our interventive
approach, and for the kinds of social and financial commitments that must be made. Finally, Africans
deserve scientifically sound information on the epidemiologic determinants of their calamitous AIDS
epidemic.
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(Accepted 15 December 2002)

Correspondence to: Mr J J Potterat, 301 South Union Blvd,
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA 80910
E-mail: jjpotterat@earthlink.net
Citation:

   * Brewer DD, Brody S, Drucker E, et al. Mounting anomalies in the epidemiology of HIV in Africa:
cry the beloved paradigm. Int J STD AIDS 2003;14:144-147.

(File revised 10 April 2003)

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