Country of infection among HIV-infected patients born abroad living in French Guiana.

Background: Over 75% of patients in the HIV cohort in French Guiana are of foreign origin. Our objective was to estimate what proportion of the migrant population of HIV-infected patients in Cayenne had been infected in French Guiana.

Methods: We included patients of known foreign origin who were followed in Cayenne, for whom the year of arrival in French Guiana was known and the initial CD4 count at the time of diagnosis was available. The time between seroconversion and time at diagnosis was estimated using the formula [square root (CD4 at seroconversion)-square root(CD4 at HIV diagnosis)] / slope of CD4 decline.CD4 counts at the time of infection and the slope were computed in an age and ethnicity-dependent variable.

Results: The median estimated time between infection and diagnosis was 4.5 years (IQR = 0.2-9.2). Overall, using a median estimate of CD4 count at the time of infection, it was estimated that 53.2% (95% CI = 48.3-58%) of HIV infected foreign patients had acquired HIV after having arrived in French Guiana. Patients having arrived in French Guiana before and during the 1990s and those receiving their HIV diagnosis before 2010 were more likely to have been infected in French Guiana.

Conclusions: Contrary to widespread belief suggesting that most migrants are already HIV-infected when they arrive in French Guiana, a large proportion of foreign HIV patients seem acquire the virus in French Guiana.There is still much to do in terms of primary prevention and testing among migrants.