{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T15:07:18Z","timestamp":1793113638182,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,4]],"date-time":"2020-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1580774400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,4]],"date-time":"2020-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1580774400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Public Health"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Tanzania has witnessed a significant decrease in the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral hepatitis in the general population attributed to several interventional measures. It is uncertain whether this decline has also occurred among people who inject drugs (PWID). This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HIV, Hepatitis B and C viruses infection among PWID recruited from their hotspot sites in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A cross-sectional study conducted between June and September 2017 recruited PWID from pre-identified hotspot sites using a snowball referral sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding socio-demographic characteristics, behaviour and drug use. Blood was tested for the presence of IgG antibodies against HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Data were entered in the computer using excel software and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A total of 219 PWID were recruited, the majority of whom were males (74.9%), unmarried (60.7%), had low education (62.6%) and low income (57.1%). The median age was 39\u2009years, with an inter-quartile range of 35\u201343. Approximately 32.0% had a history of drug injection for more than 3\u2009years, 79.9% were injecting drugs more than 3 times per day and 47.5% were sharing needles. The overall prevalence of HIV, HBsAg, and HCV was 33.8, 7.8, and 50.2%, respectively. There was serologic evidence of at least one infection for 68.9%, while 22.4% had two or more infections. HIV infection was independently associated with being married, while HCV was associated with injecting drugs for more than 3\u2009years and unprotected sex.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Over two-third of PWID had serologic evidence of infection with at least one virus while 22.4% having at least two infections. The high prevalence of HIV and viral hepatitis infections among PWID may hamper initiatives of ending HIV and viral hepatitis epidemics in Tanzania.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-020-8294-8","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,4]],"date-time":"2020-02-04T14:02:36Z","timestamp":1580824956000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["High prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C viral infections among people who inject drugs: a potential stumbling block in the control of HIV and viral hepatitis in Tanzania"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Rahim H.","family":"Kawambwa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3726-2816","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mtebe V.","family":"Majigo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmed A.","family":"Mohamed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mecky I.","family":"Matee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"8294_CR1","volume-title":"HIV\/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection suiveillance report 24, Tanzania Maninlans 2013\u20132014","author":"NACP","year":"2014","unstructured":"NACP. 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J Trop Med. 2018;2018:4239646.","journal-title":"J Trop Med"},{"issue":"1","key":"8294_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"474","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-018-3376-2","volume":"18","author":"ER Shao","year":"2018","unstructured":"Shao ER, Mboya IB, Gunda DW, Ruhangisa FG, Temu EM, Nkwama ML, et al. Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus infection and associated factors among healthcare workers in northern Tanzania. BMC Infect Dis. 2018;18(1):474.","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"issue":"1","key":"8294_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1016\/j.drugpo.2012.08.005","volume":"24","author":"AL Bowring","year":"2012","unstructured":"Bowring AL, Luhmann N, Pont S, Debaulieu C, Derozier S, Asouab F, et al. An urgent need to scale-up injecting drug harm reduction services in Tanzania: prevalence of blood-borne viruses among drug users in Temeke District, Dar-es-salaam, 2011. 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Written informed consent was obtained from each participant before enrolment. Each participant was provided with a description of the aim of the study, potential benefits and risks, blood collection procedures and assurance of confidentiality. Participants who were found with any of screened pathogens were referred to the Muhimbili National hospital for further management. All clients\u2019 information and test results were confidentially kept.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"177"}}