Background: Injection drug use has been the major route of HIV transmission over the past several years in some countries. The aim of this study was to describe epidemiologic and demographic factors, as well as the risk behavior data in HIV-positive patients referred to a private clinic in Tehran.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in 2005 based on documents of 150 HIV-infected patients referred to a private clinic from 1992 through 2004 in Tehran.
Results: Documents of 150 HIV-positive patients (124 males and 26 females) were analyzed. Injection drug use with one other risk factor, namely shared needle (n = 46), injection drug use without any other known risk factor (n = 37), and sexual activity (n = 25) were the major possible routes of transmission of HIV infection. The major possible route of transmission in female patients was sexual activity (n = 17), mostly from infected husbands (13/17). There was no patient with a history of drug abuse from 1992 to 1997. The frequency of HIV-positive injection drug users was 1 in 1997 - 1998, 6 in 1999, 3 in 2000, 24 in 2001, 32 in 2002, 37 in 2003, and 11 in 2004. Eighty-three (55%) of 150 and 64 (74%) of 86 patients had a history of drug abuse and incarceration, respectively.
Conclusion: We observed high rates of hepatitis C and B virus coinfection in our HIV-positive patients. Injection drug use is the main risk factor associated with HIV infection in Iran.