Young age is a risk factor for HIV among female sex workers--an experience from India.
OBJECTIVE
A cross-sectional community-based study was conducted among brothel-based sex workers of West Bengal, eastern India, to study the prevalence of HIV and associated risk factors.


METHODS
Unlinked anonymous HIV testing was performed on 2076 sex workers. Of these, 558 were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire to study their risk factors.


RESULTS
Overall HIV sero-prevalence was 5.9%. All infections were HIV-1, except that four sex workers from Kolkata were infected with HIV-2. Surprisingly, HIV infection was much higher (12.5%) in younger sex workers (age < or =20 years) compared with older age groups (5.4%) (P=0.002; odds ratio 2.40, 95% CI: 1.29-4.38).


CONCLUSIONS
This could be associated with larger areas of cervical ectopy of younger sex workers who are subjected to repeated trauma during sexual intercourse, facilitating higher HIV transmission. Behavioral factors may increase a young sex worker's risk of acquiring HIV infection, including professional immaturity with clients, which might lead to more unprotected sex. HIV status was associated with other sexually transmitted infection in the previous year but was not associated with literacy status, daily income, duration of sex work, number of clients entertained per day, entertaining clients outside a brothel (in a hotel), and reported condom use.
Sarkar
Kamalesh
K
Division of Epidemiology (HIV/AIDS), National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, P-33, CIT Road Scheme XM, PO. Beliaghata, Kolkata 700010, India. kamal412496@yahoo.com
Bal
Baishali
B
Mukherjee
Rita
R
Saha
Malay Kumar
MK
Chakraborty
Sekhar
S
Niyogi
Swapan Kumar
SK
Bhattacharya
Sujit Kumar
SK
D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D011477:Sex Work; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D015483:HIV Antibodies