Drug abusers as high risk group for AIDS in Egypt

ABSTRACT

This study was performed on 26 male parentral drug abuses with an age ranging from 25 to 35 years and 18 normal controls. Twenty-five of the addicts had an abnormal sexual behavior, which is an added risk factor in this group. Weight loss, diarrhea, fever, jaundice, chest and skin infections, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly and lymph node enlargement were recorded among the majority of drug abusers studied. Furthermore, all of them were suffering from various degrees of anemia, while lymphopenia was manifested in 65%. Hyper-gamma- globulinemia encountered in these addicts could be attributed to polyclonal B-cell activation. There was a reduction in the absolute count of T-cells with a significant decrease in T4 population, leading to depressed helper/suppressor ratio. Eleven addicts were seropositive to HBsAg. Three of them were HTLV III seropositive by ELISA. This showed the role of unsterile needles in addition ot the abnormal sexual behavior in disseminating both the hepatitis virus nd the AIDS agent. From the clinical, hematological and immunological investigations, drug abusers had manifestations simulating those of pre-AIDS or AIDS related complex [ARC]