Prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B, C and G virus infections among injecting drug users on methadone maintenance treatment in Maribor

The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and hepatitis B, C, and G virus infections was determined in a selected group of 40 intravenous drug addicts on methadone maintenance treatment. No drug addict was infected with HIV. Seven drug addicts (17.5%) had serologic markers of he...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift 2004, Vol.116 Suppl 2, p.5
Main Authors: Baklan, Zvonko, Gorisek, Jelka Rebersek, Poljak, Mario, Pisec, Andrej
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Factors
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Flaviviridae Infections - epidemiology
GB virus C
Hepatitis B - diagnosis
Hepatitis B - epidemiology
Hepatitis C - diagnosis
Hepatitis C - epidemiology
Hepatitis, Viral, Human - epidemiology
HIV Infections - epidemiology
Humans
Male
Methadone - therapeutic use
Narcotics - therapeutic use
Sex Factors
Slovenia - epidemiology
Substance Abuse, Intravenous - complications
Substance Abuse, Intravenous - drug therapy
Time Factors
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Summary:The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and hepatitis B, C, and G virus infections was determined in a selected group of 40 intravenous drug addicts on methadone maintenance treatment. No drug addict was infected with HIV. Seven drug addicts (17.5%) had serologic markers of hepatitis B infection but only one among them (2.5%) exhibited signs of active infection. 16 drug addicts (40%) had serologic markers of hepatitis C infection and 13 (32.5%) of them had an active infection with positive viral tests. 22 addicts (55%) had signs of hepatitis G infection, 9 (22.5%) of them had signs of active infection and 13 (32.5%) had signs of past infection. Addicts infected with the hepatitis B and C viruses were older and had also been taking drugs longer than those who were not infected with these two viruses. The proportion of those susceptible to infection with hepatitis B (70%) is high, reflecting a low prevalence of this disease and at the same time revealing the failure of preventive measures and the unacceptably low vaccination rate.
ISSN:0043-5325