Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

HIV, HBV, and HCV Infections Among Drug-Involved, Inner-City, Street Sex Workers in Miami, Florida

  • Commercial Sex Workers
  • Published:
AIDS and Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This study describes the rates of HIV, HBV, and HCV seropositivity among drug-involved, female street sex workers in low-income, inner-city sections of Miami, Florida; further, their sociodemographic characteristics, drug use, and sexual risk behaviors were assessed; and predictors of infection were reported. A sample of 586 sex workers was recruited through targeted sampling methods, interviewed, and counseled and tested for the presence of antibody to HIV, HBV, and HCV. Respondents’ median age was 38 years, median time in sex work was 14 years, all were heavily involved in the use of alcohol and drugs, and 42% were homeless. More than half (51.0%) had engaged in unprotected vaginal sex in the past month. Prevalences were HIV, 22.4%; HBV, 53.4%; HCV, 29.7%. A multidimensional public health program must address not only issues related to unsafe sex, but also the problems of drug abuse, homelessness, and other lifestyle factors that contribute to risk behaviors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Aklilu, M., Messele, T., Tsegaye, A., Biru, T., Mariam, D., van Benten, B., Coutinho, R., de Wit, T. R., and Fontanet, A. (2001). Factors associated with HIV-1 infection among sex workers of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AIDS, 15, 87–96.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alary, M., Mukenge-Tshibaka, L., Bernier, F., Gerald, N., Lowndes, C. M., Meda, H., Gnintoungbè, C. A. B., Anagonou, S., and Joly, J. R. (2002). Decline in the prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases among female sex workers in Cotonou, Benin, 1993–1999. AIDS, 16, 463–470.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, J. C. (1967). The reliability and validity of interview data obtained from 59 narcotic drug addicts. American Journal of Sociology, 72, 650–654.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barthwell, A. G., and Gibert, C. L. (1993). Screening for infectious diseases among substance abusers. Rockville, MD: CSAT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, D. P., Fink, L., Handelsman, L., Foote, J., Lovejoy, M., Wenzel, K., Sapareto, E., and Ruggiero, J. (1994). Initial reliability and validity of a new retrospective measure of child abuse and neglect. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1132–1136.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bonito, A. J., Nurco, D. N., and Shaffer, J. W. (1976). The veridicality for addicts’ self-reports in social research. International Journal of the Addictions, 11, 719–724.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Braunstein, M. S. (1993). Sampling a hidden population: Noninstitutionalized drug users. AIDS Education and Prevention, 5, 131–139.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. S., and Beschner, G. M. (Eds.) (1993). Handbook on risk of AIDS. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, C. A. (1991). Prostitution, AIDS, and preventative health behavior. Social Science and Medicine, 32, 1367–1378.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, R. G., Wang, J., Siegal, H. A., Falck, R. S., and Guo, J. (1994). An ethnographic approach to targeted sampling: Problems and solutions in AIDS prevention research among injection drug and crack-cocaine users. Human Organization, 53, 279–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1998). Recommendations for prevention and control of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and HCV-related chronic disease. Morbidity and Mortality Reports, 47, 1–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chitwood, D. D., Inciardi, J. A., McBride, D. C., McCoy, C. B., McCoy, H. V., and Trapido, E. (1991). A community approach to AIDS intervention: Exploring the Miami Outreach Project for injecting drug users and other high risk groups. New York: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, T. J., and Longwell, B. (1974). Reliability of interview data concerning current heroin use from heroin addicts on methadone. International Journal of the Addictions, 9, 161–165.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coyle, S. L., Boruch, R. F., and Turner, C. F. (Eds.) (1991). Evaluating AIDS prevention programs (expanded ed.). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Echevarria, S., SanMiguel, G., Pelayo, T., Salas, C., Casafont, F., Crespo, J., and Romero, F. P. (1993). Risk for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections among prostitutes. Genitourinary Medicine, 69, 321–322.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Edlin, B. R., Irwin, K. L., Faruque, S., McCoy, C. B., Word, C., Serrano, Y., Inciardi, J. A., Bowser, B. P., Schilling, R., and Holmberg, S. D. (1994). Intersecting epidemics: Crack cocaine use and HIV infection in inner city young adults. New England Journal of Medicine, 331, 1422–1427.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elifson, K. W. (1990). The Georgia State Prostitution Inventory. Atlanta, GA.

  • Elifson, K. W., Boles, J., Darrow, W. W., and Sterk, C. E. (1999). HIV seroprevalence and risk factors among clients of female and male prostitutes. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Human Retrovirology, 20, 195–200.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Estébanez, P., Fitch, K., and Nájera, R. (1993). HIV and female sex workers. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 71, 397–412.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Exner, J. E., Wylie, J., Leura, A., and Parrill, T. (1977). Some psychological characteristics of prostitutes. Journal of Personality Assessment, 41, 474–485.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fullilove, R. E., Fullilove, M. T., Bowser, B. P., and Gross, S. A. (1990). Risk of sexually transmitted disease among black adolescent crack users in Oakland and San Francisco, California. JAMA, 263, 851–855.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghys, P. D., Diallo, M. O., Ettiègne-Traoré, V., Yeboue, K. M., Gnaore, E., Lorougnon, F., Kale, K., Dyck, E. V., Brattegaard, K., Hoyi, Y. M., Whitaker, J. P., Cock, K. M. D., Greenberg, A. E., Piot, P., and Laga, M. (1995). Genital ulcers associated with human immunodeficiency virus-related immunosuppression in female sex workers in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 172, 1371–1374.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, P. J. (1979). Prostitution and drugs. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodey, J. (2003). Migration, crime, and victimhood: Responses to sex trafficking in the EU. Punishment and Society, 5, 415–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallam, N. F., Fletcher, M. L., Read, S. J., Majid, A. M., Kurtz, J. B., and Rizza, C. R. (1993). Low risk of sexual transmission of Hepatitis C virus. Journal of Medical Virology, 40, 251–253.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hershow, R. C., Kalish, L. A., Sha, B., Till, M., and Cohen, M. (1998). Hepatitis C virus infection in Chicago women with or at risk for HIV infection. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 25, 527–532.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Inciardi, J. A. (1995). Crack, crack house sex, and HIV risk. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 24, 249–269.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Inciardi, J. A., Lockwood, D., and Pottieger, A. E. (1991). Crack dependent women and sexuality: Implications for STD acquisition and transmission. Addiction and Recovery, 11, 25–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inciardi, J. A., Lockwood, D., and Pottieger, A. E. (1993). Women and crack-cocaine. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, D. L., Irwin, K. L., Inciardi, J. A., Bowser, B., Schilling, R., Word, C., Evans, P., Faruque, S., Mccoy, H. V., and Edlin, B. R. (1998). The high-risk sexual practices of crack-smoking sex workers recruited from the streets of three American cities. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 25, 187–193.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kao, J. H., Chen, W., Chen, P. J., Lai, M. Y., Lin, R. Y., and Chen, D. S. (1997). GB virus-C/Hepatitis g virus infection in prostitutes: Possible role of sexual transmission. Journal of Medical Virology, 52, 381–384.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laurent, C., Seck, K., Coumba, N., Kane, T., Samb, N., Wade, A., Liégeois, F., Mboup, S., Ndoye, I., and Delaporte, E. (2003). Prevalence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and risk behaviours in unregistered sex workers in Dakar, Senegal. AIDS, 17, 1811–1816.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maddux, J. F., and Desmond, D. P. (1975). Reliability and validity of information from chronic heroin users. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 87–95.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, J., and Tarantola, D. (1996). AIDS in the world II. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCoy, C. B., Miles, C., and Metsch, L. R. (1999). The medicalization of discourse within an AIDS research setting. In W. N. Elwood (Ed.), Power in the blood. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 39–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCoy, H. V., McKay, C. Y., Hermanns, L., and Lai, S. (1990). Sexual behavior and the risk of HIV infection. American Behavioral Scientist, 33, 432–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miami-Dade County Health Department (2004). HIV/AIDS Surveillance: Monthly surveillance report. Miami, FL.

  • Miller, E. M. (1986). Street woman. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakashima, K. S. K., Hayashi, J., Noguchi, A., Hirata, M., Kajiyama, W., Urabe, K., Minami, K., and Maeda, Y. (1992). Sexual transmission of Hepatitis C virus among female prostitutes and patients with sexually transmitted diseases in Fukuoka, Kyushi, Japan. American Journal of Epidemiology, 136, 1132–1137.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Needle, R., Weatherby, N. L., Brown, B. S., Booth, R., Williams, M. L., Watters, J. K., Andersen, M., Chitwood, D. D., Fisher, D. G., Cesari, H., and Braunstein, M. (1995). The reliability of self reported HIV risk behaviors of injection and non injection drug users. Psychology of Addictive Behavior, 9, 242–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Onorato, I. M., Klaskala, W., Morgan, W. M., and Withum, D. (1995). Prevalence, incidence, and risks for HIV-1 infection in female sex workers in Miami, Florida. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 9, 395–400.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Osmond, D. H., Padian, N. S., Sheppard, H. W., Glass, S., Shiboski, S. C., and Reingold, A. (1993). Risk factors for Hepatitis C virus seropositivity in heterosexual couples. JAMA, 269, 361–365.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, R. (1991). Bodies, pleasures, and passions: Sexual culture in contemporary Brazil. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plant, M. L., Plant, M. A., Peck, D. F., and Setters, J. (1989). The sex industry, alcohol and illicit drugs: Implications for the spread of HIV infection. British Journal of Addictions, 84, 53–59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ratner, M. S. (1993). Crack pipe as Pimp: An ethnographic investigation of sex-for-crack exchanges. New York: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolfs, R. T., Goldberg, M., and Sharrar, R. G. (1990). Risk factors for syphilis: Cocaine use and prostitution. American Journal of Public Health, 80, 853–857.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. J., and Weiner, J. M. (1988). Prostitutes and AIDS: A health department priority? American Journal of Public Health, 78, 418–423.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenblum, L., Darrow, W., Witte, J., Cohen, J., French, J., Gill, P. S., Potterat, J., Sikes, K., Reich, R., and Hadler, S. (1992). Sexual practices in the transmission of Hepatitis B virus and prevalence of Hepatitis delta virus infection in female prostitutes in the United States. JAMA, 267, 2477–2481.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simonsen, J. N., Plummer, F. A., Ngugi, E. N., Black, C., Kreiss, J. K., Gakinya, M. N., Waiyaki, P., D’Costa, L. J., Ndinya-Achola, J. O., Piot, P., and Ronald, A. (1990). HIV infection among lower socioeconomic strata prostitutes in Nairobi. AIDS, 4, 139–144.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sobell, L. C., and Sobell, M. B. (1990). Self reports across addiction behaviors: Issues and future directions in clinical and research settings. Behavioral Assessment, 12, 1–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stary, A., Kopp, W., Hofmann, H., Heller-Vitouch, C., and Kunz, C. (1992). Seroepidemiologic study of Hepatitis C virus in sexually transmitted disease risk groups. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 19, 252–258.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, R. C. (1972). The truthfulness of addict respondents in research projects. International Journal of the Addictions, 7, 549–558.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sterk, C. E. (1988). Cocaine and HIV seropositivity. Lancet, 1, 1052–1053.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sterk, C. E. (1999). Fast lives: Women who use crack cocaine. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stimson, G., Des Jarlais, D. C., and Ball, A. (1998). Drug injecting and HIV infection. London: UCL Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Surratt, H. L., Inciardi, J. A., Kurtz, S. P., and Kiley, M. C. (2004). Sex work and drug use in a subculture of violence. Crime and Delinquency, 50, 43–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabet, S., Palmer, D. L., Wiese, W. H., Voorhees, R. E., and Pathak, D. R. (1992). Seroprevalence of HIV-1 and Hepatitis B and C in prostitutes in Albuquerque, New Mexico. American Journal of Public Health, 82, 1151–1154.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Telles, P. R., Bastos, F. I., Guydish, J., Inciardi, J. A., Surratt, H. L., Pearl, M., and Hearst, N. (1997). Risk behavior and HIV seroprevalence among injecting drug users in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AIDS, 11, S35–S42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, D. L., Zenilman, J. M., Alter, H. J., Shih, J. W., Galai, N., Carella, A. V., and Quinn, T. C. (1995). Sexual transmission of Hepatitis C virus among patients attending sexually transmitted diseases clinics in Baltimore: An analysis of 309 sex partnerships. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 171, 768–775.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tortu, S., McCoy, H. V., Beardsley, M., Deren, S., and McCoy, C. B. (1998). Predictors of HIV infection among women drug users in New York and Miami. Women and Health, 27, 191–204.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Uribe-Salas, F., Hernández-Avila, M., Conde-Glez, C. J., Juárez-Figueroa, L., Allen, B., Anaya-Ocampo, R., Del Río-Chiriboga, C., Uribe-Zúñiga, P., and de Zalduondo, B. (1997). Low prevalences of HIV infection and sexually transmitted disease among female commercial sex workers in Mexico city. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 1012–1015.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • van den Hoek, A., Yuliang, F., Dukers, N. H. T. M., Zhiheng, C., Jiangting, F., Lina, Z., and Xiuxing, Z. (2001). High prevalence of syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases among sex workers in China: Potential for fast spread of HIV. AIDS, 15, 753–759.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watters, J. K., and Biernacki, P. (1989). Targeted sampling: Options for the study of hidden populations. Social Problems, 36, 416–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyld, R., Robertson, J. R., Brettle, R. P., Mellor, J., Prescott, L., and Simmonds, P. (1997). Absence of Hepatitis C virus transmission but frequent transmission of HIV-1 from sexual contact with doubly-infected individuals. Journal of Infection, 35, 163–166.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This research was supported by HHS Grant #R01-DA13131 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies, University of Delaware, Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.

    James A. Inciardi, Hilary L. Surratt & Steven P. Kurtz

  2. University of Delaware Research Center, 2100 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Suite 1180, Coral Gables, Florida, 33134, U.S.

    James A. Inciardi

Authors
  1. James A. Inciardi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hilary L. Surratt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Steven P. Kurtz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James A. Inciardi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Inciardi, J.A., Surratt, H.L. & Kurtz, S.P. HIV, HBV, and HCV Infections Among Drug-Involved, Inner-City, Street Sex Workers in Miami, Florida. AIDS Behav 10, 139–147 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-005-9049-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-005-9049-3

KEY WORDS:

Search

Navigation