Use of Long-Lasting Insecticidal-Bednets among People Living with HIV/AIDS Accessing Care in a Tertiary Health Facility in Southwest, Nigeria

Co-infection of HIV with certain diseases like pulmonary tuberculosis and malaria increases the morbidity and mortality of people living with HIV/AIDS. HIV-malaria co-infection has been regarded as having a synergistic effect on the patient. The former increases the patient’s vulnerability to parasitic and microbial infections, due to compromised immunity, while malaria on its part, further lowers an already diminished immunity by negatively impacting CD4 lymphocytes. In a nutshell, HIV-malaria co-infection is a collaboration that must not be allowed to take place in persons living with HIV/AIDS. One way to do this is to encourage HIV infected persons to sleep under long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN). In this retrospective study, covering a decade at a tertiary health facility in the southwest, Nigeria, requisite data on 303 confirmed HIV positive subjects were retrieved and reviewed. Two hundred and twenty-one (73%) of the subjects were females, while 82 (27%) were males. The mean age of the subject was 41.7 while 42 was the modal age. Ten (3.3%) of the subjects fell within 16-25 years age-bracket, 74 (24.42%) fell within 26-35 age-bracket, while, 118 (38.94%), 71 (23.43%), 26 (8.58%) and 4 (1.32%) respectively fell within 36-45, 46-55, 56-65 and 66-75 age-brackets. Only 6 (2%) of the cases were new HIV infections, whereas, 70 (26%) had been infected for upwards of 9years and had been on HAART (highly active anti-retroviral therapy) ever since then. About half 147 (48.5%) of the subjects didn’t disclose at enrolment into the free treatment scheme if they used LLIN or did not use it. However, out of the remaining 156 who did make a disclosure, 148 (94.9%) used LLIN, while 8 (5.1%) did not. The study also revealed that male subjects were likelier than the females to use LLIN.