The risk of HIV and HCV infections among injection drug users in northeast India.
Injection drug users (IDUs) and their associated risk behavior are responsible for driving the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in northeast India. So a group of IDUs from two northeastern states (Mizoram and Nagaland) of India were studied to find the prevalence of HIV, co-infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and associated risk behaviors. Out of the 400 IDUs enrolled, 398 consented for HIV, HCV, and hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) test. Of them, 10.8% were HIV-1 antibody positive, 47.8% had HCV antibody, and 3.8% had detectable HBsAg. Among the HIV infected subjects, 79.1% were co-infected with HCV and 6.9% had triple infection. Heroin users showed a higher association with HIV (OR = 7.3, 95% CI: 2.5-21.5, p=0.0003) and HCV infection (OR = 7.6, 95% CI: 3.5-16.6, p<0.0001) than Spasmo-proxyvon (dextropropoxyphene, a synthetic opiod analgesic). In summary, apart from the known risk variables among IDUs, type of injecting drugs also influences the HIV/HCV transmission pattern among the IDUs.
Mahanta
Jagadish
J
Regional Medical Research Centre, Northeast Region (Indian Council of Medical Research), Dibrugarh, Assam, India. icmrrcdi@hub.nic.in
Borkakoty
Biswajyoti
B
Das
Hiranya Kumar
HK
Chelleng
Pradeep Kumar
PK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult