title: The risk of HIV and HCV infections among injection drug users in northeast India.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Regional Medical Research Centre, Northeast Region (Indian Council of Medical Research), Dibrugarh, Assam, India. icmrrcdi@hub.nic.in
authors.forename: Jagadish
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mahanta
authors.forename: Biswajyoti
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borkakoty
authors.forename: Hiranya Kumar
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Pradeep Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Chelleng
mesh_terms: 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