The prevalence and risk behaviours associated with the transmission of blood-borne viruses among ethnic-Vietnamese injecting drug users

Abstract

Objective: To measure the prevalence and determinants of blood-borne virus (BBV) transmission in ethnic Vietnamese injecting drug users (IDUs). Methods: The study was conducted in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003. It was a cross-sectional design with participants recruited from street-based illicit drug markets predominately using a snowball technique. One hundred and twenty-seven participants completed a questionnaire that asked about illicit drug use and participants' blood samples were tested for HIV, HCV and HBV. Results: One hundred and three (81.1%) ethnic Vietnamese IDU study participants were HCV positive and three (2.4%) were HIV positive. More than 60% had evidence of being infected w..