HIV/AIDS High Risk Behaviors and Necessity of Prevention in the Population of Birjand, East of Iran 2013 to 2014: A Population-Based Study

Abstract

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a major threat for public health around the world. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the prevalence of HIV/ADIS high risk behaviors and necessity of prevention in the population of Birjand, East of Iran. Methods: This population-based study was conducted on 5235 subjects from Birjand, East of Iran, during years 2013 to 2014. Subjects were asked to complete a checklist including gender, marital status, and history of drug injection, tattooing, unsafe sexual contact, imprisonment, dental surgeries, bloodletting, and blood transfusion. All subjects were tested by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits to detect Anti-HIV antibodies (HIVAb; Genscreen® plus HIV Ag-Ab, Bio-Rad, Matnes la coquette, France). The chi-square test was performed and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Prevalence of HIV was zero. Also, result of the study showed that 9 (0.2%) subjects had a history of drug injection, 81 (1.5%) history of tattooing, 44 (0.8%) unsafe sexual contact, 39 (0.7%) history of imprisonment, 1709 (32.6%) history of dental surgeries, and 802 (15.3%) history of bloodletting. History of drug injection, history of tattooing, unsafe sexual contact, history of imprisonment, and history of dental surgeries showed a significant relationship with gender. Conclusions: It is recommended to increase knowledge about HIV/AIDS behaviors especially in low risk populations to prevent the occurrence of new cases.

Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of HTLV-1 and Co-infections of Blood-Borne Viruses in Birjand, Iran’s Eastern Border

“…It is noteworthy that in this study, six participants (0.2%) were reported as suspected of having HTLV-1 infection. Furthermore, the sero-prevalence of anti-HIV, anti-HCV, anti-HBc and HBsAg, as reported in our previous studies, were 0% (95% CI: 0-0.001), 0.2% (95% CI: 0-0.036), 15% (95% CI: 0.086-0.235) and 1.6% (95% CI: 0.002-0.07), respectively (5,13,15). Also, the results of the PCR confirmed 7 cases out of 10 people with anti-HCV positive, and so the actual prevalence of HCV was reported at 0.14%.…”

“…Furthermore, the sero-prevalence of anti-HIV, anti-HCV, anti-HDV, anti-HBc and HBsAg in our previous studies was reported at 0%, 0.2%, 1.2%, 15% and 1.6%, respectively. 5,[13][14][15] The results of our studies show that the prevalence of bloodborne viral infection in South Khorasan is close to that observed in the overall Iranian population. [16][17][18] However, the prevalence of HTLV-1 was 10 times lower than North and Razavi Khorasan provinces (0.3% vs. 2-3%), 11 and even 4 times lower than a segregated population in this region close to South Khorasan.…”

“…Furthermore, anti-HIV, anti-HCV, anti-HDV and anti-HBc antibodies as well as hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) were evaluated by ELISA in our previous studies. 5,[13][14][15] It is noteworthy that the blood serum of patients with positive HBsAg was used in order to determine the prevalence of HDV infection. Finally, the positive anti-HCV serological results were confirmed using specific primers for HCV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).…”