[Study on the relationship between hepatitis C virus infection and sharing injection equipment, sexual behavior among injecting drug users].
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.
Zhou
Feng
F
Peking Union Medical College, Union School of Public Health, Beijing 100021, China.
Ma
Ze-en
ZE
Hu
Wei
W
Feng
Zong-liang
ZL
Chen
Kang-lin
KL
Qin
Guang-ming
GM
Sun
Qiao
Q
Liu
Gang
G
Liang
Shu
S
He
Yi-xin
YX
Liu
Shi-zhu
SZ
Ruan
Yu-hua
YH
Shao
Yi-ming
YM
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