ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Spatiotemporal Trends of HIV Among International Migrants: A 20-Year Surveillance Study at Sichuan Ports, China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
- 2Sichuan International Travel Healthcare Center, Chengdu, China
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Objective: To investigate HIV epidemiological characteristics and risk factors among international migrants (including Chinese citizens departing/returning and foreign nationals entering China) at Sichuan International Travel Health Care Center (2004–2024), informing targeted prevention strategies. Methods: A retrospective analysis of HIV infections was conducted using ELISA screening and Western blot confirmation. Results: Out of 566,475 individuals screened, 323 were found to be positive, resulting in a positivity rate of 0.057% (95% CI: 0.049–0.065). The characteristics of the infected individuals were as follows: (1) the majority were male (92.57%), predominantly aged between 41 and 50 years (29.33%), and primarily comprised migrant workers (59.49%); (2) the CRF55_01B subtype was the most prevalent, accounting for 60.61%, and exhibited an independent transmission chain; (3) heterosexual transmission was the primary mode of infection (47.68%), with 74.37% of individuals not maintaining consistent condom use. Additionally, there has been an increasing trend in the proportion of individuals aged 51-60 and those with a college education or higher in recent years. Conclusions:A comprehensive review of 2 two decades of data indicates the necessity for port-focused interventions aimed at middle-aged migrant workers, improved surveillance measures, and the incorporation of molecular epidemiology into prevention strategies. Interventions should be specifically tailored to prioritize evidence-based approaches for high-risk groups, particularly mobile workers aged 51-60 years and university students engaging in unprotected sexual activities.
Keywords: HIV, aids, Epidemiological characteristics, prevention, Ports
Received: 07 Aug 2025; Accepted: 28 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Long, Shi, Zhang, Tian and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Juan Long
Xuelong Chen
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