Trends of HIV, hepatitis C virus and syphilis seroprevalence among injection and non-injection drug users in southwestern China, 2010–2017

ABSTRACT

Background: The primary risk of HIV transmission in China has shifted from injecting drug use (IDU) to sexual contact since 2006. We evaluated the prevalence trends of HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), syphilis, and sexual and drug use behaviors among drug users. Methods: People who use drugs participated in any of four rounds of cross-sectional surveys during 2010–2017 in Chongqing. Participants were tested for HIV, HCV, and syphilis. Questionnaire interviewing was conducted to collect behavioral information. Chi-square and trend tests were employed to assess the changes in diseases and behaviors over time. Results: A total of 8,171 people who inject drugs (PWID) and 5,495 non-injection drug users (NIDU) were included in the analyses. HIV prevalence among PWID in four rounds of the survey in 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, and 2016–17 was 11.5%, 9.7%, 6.5%, and 6.9%, and among NIDU, 2.4%, 1.4%, 2.1% and 2.6%, respectively. HCV prevalence among PWID was 83.5%, 85.2%, 67.1% and 79.7% (P < 0.001), and among NIDU, 22.2%, 10.8%, 13.4% and 14.8%, (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The declining HIV and HCV prevalence among PWID is coincident with declining risky drug use behaviors. Tailored disease prevention and interventions targeting PWID and NIDU are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• hepatitis C virus
• syphilis
• people who inject drugs
• non-injection drug use
• cross-sectional

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from Chongqing Municipal Health Commission (2017ZDXM001, 2019ZDXM005, and cstc2019jscx-msxmX0225), Chongqing Talents Program for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Pioneers (2019), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (11971479).