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.