Epidemiological features of positive anti-HCV among the HIV-infected population in Guangxi,China

Objective To investigate the epidemiological status and features of anti-HCV positive rate among the HIV-infected population in Guangxi,China. Methods The patients from Guangxi who attended 7 hospitals in Guangxi form 2010 to 2016 and were confirmed with positive HIV antibody were enrolled as subjects. Their demographic data,anti-HCV test results,and route of HIV-HCV coinfection were collected. The chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups,and the Bonferroni method was used for multiple comparisons of sample rates. Since dependent variables were binary variables,the binary univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results A total of 6154 patients with positive HIV antibody were enrolled,among whom 409(6. 65%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6. 03%-7. 27%) had positive HCV antibody. Male patients had a significantly higher anti-HCV positive rate than female patients(7. 97% vs 3. 57%,χ2= 29. 294,P < 0. 01). The age group of 18-44 years had the highest anti-HCV positive rate of 10. 47%,followed by the age group of 45-59 years(5. 44%),and these two groups had a significantly higher positive rate than the other age groups based on pairwise comparison(all P < 0. 01). Intravenous drug users had the highest anti-HCV positive rate of 75. 12%,followed by the intravenous drug users with sexual contact(70. 00%),and the patients with these two routes of infection had a significantly higher anti-HCV positive rate than those with other routes(all P < 0. 01). In the patients with positive HIV and HCV antibodies,intravenous drug users accounted for a higher proportion than the patients with other routes of infection; 72. 30% of the male patients were intravenous drug users,while 57. 58% of the female patients were infected via sexual transmission,and there was a significant difference in the distribution of the routes of infection between the male and female patients(P < 0. 01). The age group of 18-44 years had the highest proportion of intravenous drug users(71. 58%),followed by the age group of 45-59 years(63. 27%),and these twogroups had a significantly higher proportion than the other age groups based on pairwise comparison(all P < 0. 01). The age group of 60-80 years had a significantly higher proportion of patients with sexual transmission than the other age groups based on pairwise comparison(all P < 0. 01). The logistic regression analysis showed that for the patients with HIV infection,the risk of intravenous drug use and HCV infection was 60. 385 times(95% CI: 7. 909-461. 017) that of the other routes of infection,and the risk of intravenous drug use + sexual contact and HCV infection was 46. 667 times(95% CI: 4. 144-525. 501) that of the other routes of infection(P < 0. 01). Conclusion The anti-HCV positive rate remains high among the patients with HIV infection in Guangxi,and male patients have a higher anti-HCV positive rate than female patients. Young individuals have a higher anti-HCV positive rate than the other age groups. Among the male population and the young and middle-aged population,intravenous drug use is the main route of HIV/HCV infection,while in the female population and the elderly population,sexual contact is the main route of infection. Intravenous drug use is an independent risk factor for HIV-HCV coinfection.