Comparison of risk for HIV, syphilis and HCV infection between club drug users and traditional drug users in TaizhouCity

ObjectiveTo compare the risk for HIV, syphilis and HCV infection between club drug users and traditional drug users in Taizhou City of Zhejiang Province, in order to provide evidence for further behavioral intervention.

MethodsDrug users in Taizhou were surveyed with the questionnaires for national HIV sentinel surveillance during 2016-2019.Blood samples were collected for detection of HIV, syphilis and HCV antibodies.

ResultsA total of 1 612 drug users were surveyed, in which club drug users accounted for 78.7% and traditional drug users 21.3%.Significant differences were observed in gender, age, educational level, ethnic background, and household registration between these two groups (P < 0.05).Among club drug users, injecting drug users accounted for 7.1%, lower than traditional drug users (P < 0.001).Among the injecting drug users, those who shared needles with others accounted for 8.9%, similar to the traditional drug users (P>0.05).In the past year, the proportion of having sex after drug abuse among club drug users was 77.9%, higher than traditional drug users (P=0.002).The proportion of condom use during sex were nearly 30.0% for both club drug users and traditional drug users.Of the club drug users, 0.2% were infected with HIV, which was not significantly different from that in traditional drug users (P>0.05).The prevalence of syphilis among club drug users was 12.6%, higher than traditional drug users (P < 0.05);whereas the HCV prevalence (10.4%) was lower among club drug users (P < 0.001).

ConclusionThe threats of blood-borne transmission and sexual transmission of diseases are common among club drug users, suggesting the need of targeted intervention measures.