The association between hepatitis C virus and HIV-1 in preparatory cohorts for HIV vaccine trials in Thailand.
OBJECTIVE
To study the association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV-1, and HCV seropositivity as an indicator of HIV-1 risk behavior for HIV vaccine preparatory cohorts in Thailand.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study of HIV-1-infected persons identified at screening for potential HIV vaccine trial cohort studies.


METHODS
Sera from HIV-1-infected and uninfected volunteers was matched by age, sex, and community, and tested for HCV reactivity. Logistic regression methods were used to measure associations between HIV-1, HCV and other risk factors for HIV infection.


RESULTS
The prevalence of HCV among HIV-negative controls was 8.3% (6/72) for men and 4.2% (5/118) for women. Co-infection with HIV and occurred in 50.7% (37/73) of men and 3.4% (4/118) of women. Among men who reported injection drug use (IDU), 96.4% (27/28) were HCV seropositive. No women reported IDU. HCV was associated with HIV infection [odds ratio (OR), 11.3; 95% confidence interval (CI), 4.4-29.3] and IDU (OR, 12.0; 95% CI, 3.4-41.9) among men, but not women (OR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.2-3.0). After adjustment for potential confounding, HCV, but not IDU, remained strongly associated with HIV-1 infection among men (OR, 9.4; 95% CI, 2.7-32.6).


CONCLUSIONS
The strong associations between HCV seropositivity, HIV-1 infection, and IDU history suggest that IDU was reported accurately in this study. The surprisingly high prevalence of HCV among HIV-1-infected young men may assist health policy makers in the choice of behavioral interventions for this important subgroup of the population.
Paris
Robert
R
US Component, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand.
Sirisopana
Narongrid
N
Benenson
Michael
M
Amphaiphis
Ramase
R
Tuntichaivanich
Chalermsri
C
Myint
Khin Saw
KS
Brown
Arthur E
AE
D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012306:Risk; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous; D013785:Thailand
D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D000914:Antibodies, Viral