1. The geographic distribution patterns of HIV-, HCV- and co-infections among drug users in a national methadone maintenance treatment program in Southwest China
- Author
-
Lei Nan, Qingwu Jiang, Qiang Liao, Qi-Xing Wang, Yi-Biao Zhou, Xiu-Xia Song, Ai-Hui Yang, Song Liang, Yu-Han Gong, and Shi-Jiao Nie
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Methadone maintenance ,China ,Substance-Related Disorders ,Developing country ,HIV Infections ,Drug Users ,Medical microbiology ,Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) ,Environmental health ,Opiate Substitution Treatment ,Prevalence ,Medicine ,Humans ,Geographic autocorrelation analysis ,Geography, Medical ,business.industry ,Coinfection ,Public health ,virus diseases ,HIV ,Hepatitis C ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Virology ,Co-infection ,Infectious Diseases ,HCV ,Female ,Geographic distribution ,Geographic scan statistic ,business ,Methadone ,medicine.drug ,Research Article - Abstract
Background HIV-, HCV- and HIV/HCV co-infections among drug users have become a rapidly emerging global public health problem. In order to constrain the dual epidemics of HIV/AIDS and drug use, China has adopted a methadone maintenance treatment program (MMTP) since 2004. Studies of the geographic heterogeneity of HIV and HCV infections at a local scale are sparse, which has critical implications for future MMTP implementation and health policies covering both HIV and HCV prevention among drug users in China. This study aimed to characterize geographic patterns of HIV and HCV prevalence at the township level among drug users in a Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest of China. Methods Data on demographic and clinical characteristics of all clients in the 11 MMTP clinics of the Yi Autonomous Prefecture from March 2004 to December 2012 were collected. A GIS-based geographic analysis involving geographic autocorrelation analysis and geographic scan statistics were employed to identify the geographic distribution pattern of HIV-, HCV- and co-infections among drug users. Results A total of 6690 MMTP clients was analyzed. The prevalence of HIV-, HCV- and co-infections were 25.2%, 30.8%, and 10.9% respectively. There were significant global and local geographic autocorrelations for HIV-, HCV-, and co-infection. The Moran’s I was 0.3015, 0.3449, and 0.3155, respectively (P
- Published
- 2014