Crack, Crack Houses Sex, and HIV risk

FRANÇAIS :
L'objectif de l'étude est d'observer les habitudes et les caractéristiques des échanges de type "sexe contre crack" spécialement ceux qui ont lieu dans les "crack-houses" et de mesurer leur impact sur la transmission du VIH. L'observation se fait à partir de 17 hommes et 35 femmes fréquentant 8 crack-houses différentes de Miami. Ils sont usagers réguliers de crack et ont pratiqué l'échange de type "sexe contre crack" durant les 30 derniers jours de l'observation. Ils ont tous une activité sexuelle très intense et il ressort que le tiers des hommes et 89% des femmes ont eu pendant cette période au moins 100 partenaires. Ces échanges étaient anonymes, fréquents et avec des partenaires multiples et de plus dans la majorité des cas sans préservatif. Sur les 37 sujets testés pour le VIH, 31% des hommes et 21% des femmes étaient séropositifs.
ENGLISH :
The purposes of this research were to study the attributes and patterns of "sex for crack" exchanges particularly those that occured in crack houses, and to assess their potential impact on the spread of HIV. Structured interviews were conducted with 17 mem and 35 women in Miami, who were regular users of crack and who had exchanged sex for crack during the past 30 days. Interview and observational data suggest that individuals who exchange sex for crack do so with considerable frequency, and through a variety of sexual activities. Systematic data indicated that almost a third of the men and 89% of the women had had 100 or more sex partners during the 30-day period prior to study recruitment. Not only were sexual activities anonymous, extremely frequent, varied, ininhibited, and with multiple partners but, in addition, condoms were not used during the majority of contacts. Of the 37 subjects tested who were tested for HIV and received their test results 31% of the men and 21% of the women were HIV seropositive. (Author's abstract)