title: [Study on the relationship between hepatitis C virus infection and sharing injection equipment, sexual behavior among injecting drug users].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission through different modes of sharing injection equipment and sexual behavior among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Liangshan of Sichuan province.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community-based survey was conducted to investigate past and current demographic data, injection equipment sharing patterns and sexual behavior of IDUs. Blood samples were also taken to test for HCV. The survey was conducted between Nov 8 and Nov 29, 2002. 379 subjects were screened through outreach recruitment and peer informing. SPSS (11.5) was used for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HCV prevalence was 71.0% (269/379). Needles or syringes sharing in the past three months and past syphilis infection were strongly associated with HCV transmission after univariate analysis using chi-square test. Trend analysis indicated that HCV infection rate increased along with the increase of needles or syringes sharing, sharing of rinse water and the number of peers sharing the equipments. Data from multivariate logistic regression showed that sharing of needles or syringes and history of syphilis infection were significantly associated with HCV transmission. No significant difference was found between HCV infection and sexual behavior after univariate analysis using chi-square test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further sero-epidemiological prospective cohort studies should be conducted to clarify the relationship between different modes of sharing injection equipment, sexual behavior and HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Peking Union Medical College, Union School of Public Health, Beijing 100021, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Ze-en
authors.initials: ZE
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Zong-liang
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Kang-lin
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Guang-ming
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yi-xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Shi-zhu
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yu-hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Yi-ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous / Q000009:adverse effects; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016485:Needle Sharing / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D015229:Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral / Q000097:blood; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires