The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and hepatitis C virus among injection drug users who use high risk inner-city locales in Miami, Florida

• Main Authors: Clyde B McCoy, Lisa R Metsch, Fernando Collado-Mesa, Kristopher L Arheart, Sarah E Messiah, Dolores Katz, Paul Shapshak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2004-12-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: hepatitis C virus; human immunodeficiency virus 1; co-infection; injection drug users
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762004000800002

In order to estimate the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection in hard-to-reach intravenous drug users, 199 subjects from high-risk inner-city locales, the so called "shooting galleries", were consented, interviewed, and tested in Miami, FL, US. Positive HIV-1 status was based on repeatedly reactive ELISA and confirmatory Western Blot. Positive HCV status was based on reactive ELISA and confirmatory polymerase chain reaction techniques. Overall, 50 (25%) were not infected with either virus, 61 (31%) were HIV-1/HCV co-infected, 17 (8%) infected by HIV-1 only, and 71 (36%) infected by HCV only. The results of the multivariable analyses showed that more years using heroin was the only significant risk factor for HCV only infection (odds ratio = 1.15; 95% confidence interval = 1.07, 1.24) and for HIV-1/HCV co-infection (odds ratio = 1.17; 95% confidence interval = 1.09, 1.26). This paper demonstrates that HIV-1/HCV co-infection is highly prevalent among so called "shooting galleries".