Estimating the prevalence of syringe-borne and sexually transmitted diseases among injection drug users in St Petersburg, Russia

Injection drug users (IDUs) are the vanguard of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Russia. We sought a non-invasive method to estimate a point prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), syphilis and risk behaviours in IDUs attending the syringe exchange prog...

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Published inInternational journal of STD & AIDS Vol. 14; no. 10; pp. 697 - 703
Main Authors Abdala, Nadia, Carney, John M, Durante, Amanda J, Klimov, Nikolai, Ostrovski, Dimitri, Somlai, Anton M, Kozlov, Andrei, Heimer, Robert
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.10.2003
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Disease Reservoirs
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Russia - epidemiology
Sexual Behavior
Sexually Transmitted Diseases - epidemiology
Sexually Transmitted Diseases - microbiology
Sexually Transmitted Diseases - transmission
Sexually Transmitted Diseases - virology
Substance Abuse, Intravenous
Syringes - microbiology
Syringes - virology
Russia
NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME
HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS
SYRINGES
INJECTION DRUG USERS
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Summary:Injection drug users (IDUs) are the vanguard of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Russia. We sought a non-invasive method to estimate a point prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), syphilis and risk behaviours in IDUs attending the syringe exchange programme (SEP) in St Petersburg, Russia. One hundred and one IDUs returning syringes to the St Petersburg SEP were invited to complete a questionnaire requesting demographic, knowledge, and behavioural information, and to provide their syringes for antibody testing. The median age of IDUs was 23 years. Syringe prevalences were: 10.9% for HIV, 78.2% for HCV, 15.8% for HBV, and 6.9% for syphilis. All respondents recognized drug-related risk factors for getting AIDS. Only two-thirds of subjects recognized condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infections and half knew that oil-based lubricants are not appropriate for condoms. The IDU population studied was young and requires additional interventions to encourage safer sexual behaviours.
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ISSN:0956-4624
1758-1052
DOI:10.1258/095646203322387965