Individual level injection history: a lack of association with HIV incidence in rural Zimbabwe.
BACKGROUND
It has recently been argued that unsafe medical injections are a major transmission route of HIV infection in the generalised epidemics of sub-Saharan Africa.


RESULTS
We have analysed the pattern of injections in relation to HIV incidence in a population cohort in Manicaland in a rural area of Zimbabwe. In Poisson regression models, injections were not found to be associated with HIV in males (rate ratio = 0.33; 95% confidence interval: 0.07 to 1.46) or females (rate ratio = 1.04; 95% confidence interval: 0.59 to 1.85).


CONCLUSIONS
It is important that unsafe medical injections can be confidently excluded as a major source of HIV infection. In rural Zimbabwe the evidence is that they can.
Lopman
Ben A
BA
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, United Kingdom. b.lopman@imperial.ac.uk
Garnett
Geoff P
GP
Mason
Peter R
PR
Gregson
Simon
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007267:Injections / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D015030:Zimbabwe / Q000453:epidemiology
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