HIV SURVIVABILITY IN WASTE-WATER

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is one of the major health concerns in the world today. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, has been identified in body fluids and excretions from infected individuals. These body fluids and excretions may result in the presence of HIV in raw wastewater. The objective of this research was to deter-mine the survivability of HIV in raw wastewater and wastewater that had been subjected to various degrees of treatment. To accomplish this objective, wastewater samples were collected, inoculated with known concentrations of HIV, and held at room temperature for up to 72 hours before concentration and assay. Results presented in this paper indicate that infectious HIV is fairly stable in wastewater for up to 12 hours but experiences a 2 to 3-log reduction in infectivity after 48 hours. When compared to poliovirus under similar conditions, HIV survival was significantly less.