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We evaluated the incidence of anti-Dengue virus (DENV) antibodies and dengue viremia in a region of Mexico with a high prevalence of dengue. DENV is the most important arthropod-borne virus in terms of human morbidity and mortality in America We tested 800 blood donors from a tertiary care teaching hospital that provides care in Northeast Mexico, to identify anti-DENV IgM and IgG antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and DENV genome by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In addition, routine tests for donors including Brucella, Hepatitis C virus (HCV), Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL), HIV-1 and HBsAg identification were performed. We found that 59% of donors were reactive for anti-DENV IgG and none of them had reported recent DENV infection; however, 16 (2%) were reactive for anti-DENV IgM antibodies. None of them were viremic at the time of donation. Routine tests showed that the prevalence of anti-Brucella was 0.71%, anti-HCV 0.71%, anti-HIV-1-2 0.14%, HBsAg 0.14% and VDRL test 0.57%. Although DENV transmission by blood transfusion had not been confirmed in Mexico, the finding of a high prevalence of anti-DENV IgM-positive donors with asymptomatic manifestations and the recent viremia reported in blood donors suggests that this route of transmission might be possible.

Objectives: The population of Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) and who are also injection drug users (IDUs) is understudied. We explored risk behaviors of MSM/IDUs compared with other male IDUs in 2 Mexican border cities., Study Design: In 2005, IDUs who had injected within the previous 30 days were recruited using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez. They underwent antibody testing for HIV, HCV, and syphilis and interviewer-administered surveys. Men were categorized as MSM if they reported > or =1 lifetime male partners. Logistic regression was used to compare MSM/IDUs with non-MSM/IDUs., Results: A third (31%) of 377 male IDUs were categorized as MSM (47% in Tijuana and 13% in Ciudad Juárez, P <0.01). Combined RDS-adjusted prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis C was 3% (95% CI: 1, 5) and 96%, (95% CI: 94, 99) respectively, while 17% (95% CI: 2, 36) of MSM and 8% (95% CI: 3, 12) of non-MSM tested positive for syphilis antibody. In multivariate logistic regression adjusted for site, MSM/IDUs were more likely than non-MSM/IDUs to have ever used inhalants (OR: 3.4; 95% CI: 1.8, 6.2) or oral tranquilizers (OR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.3, 4.6), received treatment for a drug problem (OR:1.9; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.2) shared needles in the last six months (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.0, 4.2) and also had higher numbers of lifetime female partners (log-transformed continuous variable, OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.2, 2.1)., Conclusions: In these Mexican cities, the proportion of MSM among male IDUs was high. Compared with other male IDUs, MSM/IDUs were more likely to engage in behaviors placing them at risk of acquiring HIV/STIs. Culturally appropriate interventions targeting Latino MSM/IDUs are warranted.