Call Today
1-800-238-7828
 |
|
  
Lesbian IV drug users at extra high risk of HIV infection
Last Updated: 2001-04-11 9:59:59 EDT (Reuters Health)
By Sanjay Kumar
NEW DELHI (Reuters Health) - Young female intravenous drug users who have sex with women (WSW-IDUs) are at greater risk of HIV infection than other young women injectors, according to results of a study conducted in five US cities, presented here at the 12th International Conference on Harm Reduction.
"They are also more likely to be marginalized in society than other women injectors," Dr. Samuel Friedman, of the Institute of AIDS Research at the National Development and Research Institutes in New York, told Reuters Health. "At least in the United States, WSW-IDUs constitute roughly 25% of all women IDUs," he noted.
Drug-injecting women between the ages of 18 and 30 were included in the study, which was conducted in Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York City, New Orleans and Chicago. A study participant was categorized as a WSW if she reported having had sex with a woman in the previous 6 months or identified herself as lesbian or bisexual. The study included a total of 803 female IDUs, of whom 274 were WSW-IDUs.
"When we compared the behavior of other women IDUs with WSW-IDUs, we found that WSWs are more likely to engage in receptive syringe sharing, maybe sharing cotton, sharing rinsed water, trading sex for money or drugs and are more likely to get most of their syringes from a syringe exchange, which is actually a protective behavior," Dr. Friedman told Reuters Health.
"In the sites where overall HIV seroprevalence is high, WSWs are more likely to be HIV-infected than other women," he continued. "WSW-IDUs were more likely to be homeless, to depend on selling sex for most of their income, to have ever been incarcerated and more likely to have been in a mental health facility."
The research team's previous research has shown that there is a five times greater likelihood that WSW-IDUs will become seropositive than other drug injectors, except for male IDUs who have sex with men, Dr. Friedman said. "Their injection networks might provide the basis for WSW-IDUs to become a core group among whom self-sustaining epidemics of HIV could become ensconced."
"We think stigmatization and social marginalization contributes to WSWs being more likely to engage in high risk behavior--both because their life has been miserable due to stigmatization and due to being cut off from non-drug-using lesbian communities or other drug injectors, which are a source of potential social support," he concluded.
-Westport Newsroom 203 319 2700
|
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters Limited content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without prior written consent of Reuters Limited. Reuters Limited shall not be liable for any error or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
|
|
 Back To HIV Wellness Center
|
