Clinical and biological characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus-infected and uninfected intravascular drug users in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

To define the medical characteristics of intravascular drug users in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, we examined 280 men, of whom 235 were infected with hu man immunodeficiency virus (HIV), being treated in a rehabilitation center. The patients used mainly opium, often in shooting galleries (50%). The pre valence of oral candidiasis (58%) and tester infection (20%) was high in HI V-seropositive patients, whereas oral hairy leukoplasia and Kaposi's sarcom a were absent. The prevalence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was 24% . More than 80% of the patients had infections with hepatitis C virus, hepa titis B virus, cytomegalovirus, or human T cell lymphotropic virus type-1. The CD4+ cell counts correlated well with viral load. Only HIV-1 subtype E was detected in the 30 patients tested. A cohort study of HIV-infected subj ects in this population seems feasible, and would permit introduction of an ti-retroviral therapy The large number of HIV-seronegative subjects sharing the same at-risk practices as the HIV-infected subjects raises the possibi lity of natural protection in this population.