Continued spread of HIV among injecting drug users in southern Sichuan Province, China.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate HIV prevalence among injecting drug users (IDUs) in a drug trafficking city in southwest Sichuan Province, China.


METHODS
A total of 314 IDUs was invited to participate in the cross-sectional survey in 2004 through community outreach recruitment and peer referrals. Blood sample was taken for HIV antibody testing and a structured questionnaire was administered to collect information on socio-demographics, drug using and sexual behaviors.


RESULTS
HIV prevalence among IDUs was 17.8% (56/314), about one half higher than that in previous survey in 2002 (11.3%, 43/379). Yi and other minority ethnicity (Odds ratio [OR], 3.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7-5.8; P < 0.001), and total times of sharing injecting equipment 1-9 times versus none, OR, 2.7; 95% CI 1.2-6.2; P = 0.02; and > or = 10 times versus none, OR, 7.5; 95% CI, 3.2-17.7; P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for HIV infection.


CONCLUSIONS
IDUs with high prevalence rates of HIV and equipment sharing behavior in the drug trafficking city may serve a source for further spread of HIV to other areas in China. The increasing trend of HIV epidemic among IDUs underscores the urgency of scaling up interventions.
Yin
Lu
L
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, and National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100050, China. translation_lucy@sohu.com
Qin
Guangming
G
Qian
Han-Zhu
HZ
Zhu
Yu
Y
Hu
Wei
W
Zhang
Li
L
Chen
Kanglin
K
Wang
Yunxia
Y
Liu
Shizhu
S
Zhou
Feng
F
Xing
Hui
H
Ruan
Yuhua
Y
Wang
Ning
N
Shao
Yiming
Y