Drug use patterns: implications for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) represents a major public health concern for society. Intravenous drug users continue to be the second largest risk group. While needle sharing has been demonstrated to play a prominent role in the higher risk experienced by illicit drug users, serious evaluations of the inherent immunologic aberrancies attendant to drug abuse have been limited. Partly responsible are the small study sample sizes and inadequate examinations of the role of particular patterns of drug abuse in the development of immunologic dysfunction. The present study represents the preliminary findings of an ongoing investigation to assess the contribution of an array of behaviors on various indicators of immunologic status.The results in 97 patients investigated demonstrate that route of administration and duration of drug use were the factors most significantly associated with a greater prevalence of immunologic abnormalities. There was also a suggestion that abnormal liver function may contribute to altered immune status.