Reasons for Seeking Post Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV in A Paediatric Infectious Diseases Clinic in Owerri, Nigeria

Post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for Human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) includes amongst others drug intervention to help prevent  infection in a person exposed to the risk of infection. Where indicated PEP should be started  within 72 hours and adherence to a full 28-day course of antiretrovirals is critical to the effectiveness of the intervention. This study  sought to identify the reason(s)  on account of which  patients  presented at the  Paediatric infectious diseases clinic of the Federal medical centre ,Owerri  for HIV  Post exposure prophylaxis. It involved the retrospective analysis of medical  records of  patients who presented for PEP for HIV  between January 2012 and June 2020.  A total of 190 patients presented during the study period for PEP for HIV. Their  ages ranged  from 3 to 18years. Mean Age (Mean ± SD) = 12.23 ± 4. There were 178(92.7%)  females and 12(6.3%) males.  The major reason for seeking PEP by patients was on account of rape , others were human bite and needle prick. About a third of the patients  presented beyond  72 hours after the exposure occurred. There was a statistically significant association between age  of the patient   and  reason for seeking PEP (p = 0.01)  but the relationship between the reason for  seeking PEP  and interval between time of exposure and time of presentation was not statistically significant. (p = 0.394). The major reason for seeking HIV Post exposure prophylaxis  in the  clinic was rape  and a third of the patients presented to the clinic beyond  72 hours  after  exposure to the risk event