Sex work, drug use, HIV infection, and spread of sexually transmitted infections in Moscow, Russian Federation.
Rates of HIV-1 infection are growing rapidly, and the epidemic of sexually transmitted infections is continuing at an alarming rate, in the Russian Federation. We did a cross-sectional study of sexually transmitted infections, HIV infection, and drug use in street youth at a juvenile detention facility, adults at homeless detention centres, and women and men at a remand centre in Moscow. 160 (79%) women at the remand centre were sex workers. 91 (51%) homeless women had syphilis. At least one bacterial sexually transmitted infection was present in 97 (58%) female juvenile detainees, 120 (64%) women at the remand centre, and 133 (75%) homeless women. HIV seroprevalence was high in women at the remand centre (n=7 [4%]), adolescent male detainees (5 [3%]), and homeless women (4 [2%]). In view of the interaction between sexually transmitted infections and HIV infection, these findings of high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections show that these disenfranchised populations have the potential to make a disproportionately high contribution to the explosive growth of the HIV epidemic unless interventions targeting these groups are implemented in the Russian Federation.
Shakarishvili
A
A
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. afs9@cdc.gov
Dubovskaya
L K
LK
Zohrabyan
L S
LS
St Lawrence
J S
JS
Aral
S O
SO
Dugasheva
L G
LG
Okan
S A
SA
Lewis
J S
JS
Parker
K A
KA
Ryan
C A
CA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009031:Moscow / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011330:Prisons; D011477:Sex Work; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*