NCJ Number
175153
Journal
Addiction Volume: 91 Issue: 3 Dated: March 1996 Pages: 435-438
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A total of 171 drug-dependent females in a Malaysian drug rehabilitation center were studied to estimate the prevalence of HIV infection among them.
Abstract
All subjects were undergoing rehabilitation after complete cessation of drug use. Testing for HIV was done with the Abbot Recombinant HIV1/HIV2 third-generation kit. Those who tested positive were confirmed by the Western Blot method. Sociodemographic data were also recorded. Details of drug history, sexual history, and high-risk behavior for HIV were recorded as well. Results were compared for HIV-positive and HIV- negative groups. The statistical analysis was performed with the EpiInfo and SPSS statistical package. Chi-square and Fischer exact tests were used to determine the significance of associations for categorical variables. Twenty-four of the women (14 percent) were positive on the Western Blot test. The presence of HIV infection was significantly correlated with syphilis, for which testing was also done, and age; 83 percent of those who were HIV-positive were intravenous drug users. Given the vulnerability of injecting drug users to HIV infection, the prevention of drug injection is of paramount importance in reducing the spread of the HIV epidemic. In Malaysia, an increasing number of IV drug users are cleaning their needles and decreasing the sharing of equipment. 2 tables and 8 references