Volume 13, Number 10—October 2007
THEME ISSUE
Global Poverty and Human Development
Dispatch
West Nile Virus Infection among the Homeless, Houston, Texas1
Tamra E. Meyer*, Lara M. Bull*, Kelly Cain Holmes*, Rhia F. Pascua*, Amelia Travassos da Rosa†, Christian R. Gutierrez*, Tracie Corbin*, Jennifer L. Woodward*, Jeffrey P. Taylor‡, Robert B. Tesh†, and Kristy O. Murray*
Table 2
Self-reported social histories and prevalence of WNV infection from the 2004 Houston Homeless Seroprevalence Study*
| Participant characteristics | All participants, n = 397 (%) | WNV prevalence |
Risk for WNV infection, OR (95% CI) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. (%) | 95% CI | |||||
| Housing status† | ||||||
| Stable housing, 2002 and 2003 | 278 (70) | 13 (4.7) | 2.5–7.9 | Reference | ||
| Unstable housing, 2002 or 2003 | 69 (17) | 7 (10.1) | 4.2–19.8 | 2.3 (0.9–6.0) | ||
| Unstable housing, 2002 and 2003 | 45 (11) | 6 (13.3) | 5.1–26.8 | 3.1 (1.1–8.7)‡ | ||
| Unknown |
5 (1) |
1 (20.0) |
0.5–71.6 |
– |
||
| Homelessness status | ||||||
| Does not consider himself or herself homeless | 111 (28) | 8 (7.2) | 3.2–13.7 | Reference | ||
| Lives mostly on the streets | 50 (13) | 6 (12.0) | 4.5–24.3 | 1.8 (0.6–5.4) | ||
| Lives in temporary shelter | 125 (31) | 10 (8.0) | 3.9–14.2 | 1.1 (0.4–2.9) | ||
| Lives temporarily with friends/family | 64 (16) | 1 (1.6) | 0.04–8.4 | 0.2 (0.02–1.7) | ||
| Other |
47 (12) |
2 (4.3) |
0.5–14.5 |
0.6 (0.1–2.8) |
||
| Length of time homeless | ||||||
| Does not consider himself or herself homeless or homeless <1 mo | 171 (43) | 10 (5.9) | 2.8–10.5 | Reference | ||
| 1 mo–1 y | 153 (39) | 5 (3.3) | 1.1–7.5 | 0.5 (0.2–1.6) | ||
| >1 y |
73 (18) |
12 (16.4) |
8.8–27.0 |
3.2 (1.3–7.7)‡ |
||
| Time spent outdoors on average each day during summer and fall§ | ||||||
| <6 h | 150 (38) | 3 (2.0) | 0.4–5.7 | Reference | ||
| 6–12 h | 150 (38) | 12 (8.0) | 4.2–13.6 | 4.3 (1.2–15.4)¶ | ||
| >12 h | 96 (24) | 12 (12.5) | 6.6–20.8 | 7.0 (1.9–25.5)‡ | ||
| Unknown |
1 (0.3) |
0 (0) |
– |
– |
||
| Substance use# | ||||||
| Current tobacco use | 273 (69) | 20 (7.3) | 4.5–11.1 | 1.3 (0.5–3.2) | ||
| >15 drinks containing alcohol/wk | 70 (18) | 3 (4.3) | 0.9–12.0 | 0.6 (0.2–1.9) | ||
| Ever used street drugs | 281 (71) | 19 (6.8) | 4.1–10.4 | 1.0 (0.4–2.3) | ||
| Ever used needles to inject street drugs | 89 (22) | 6 (6.7) | 2.5–14.1 | 1.0 (0.4–2.5) | ||
| Current drug use (within past 6 mo) | 108 (27) | 11 (10.2) | 5.2–17.5 | 1.9 (0.9–4.3) | ||
| Street drugs used in past 6 mo** | ||||||
| CNS stimulants (crack/cocaine/ amphetamines) | 84 (21) | 5 (6.0) | 2.0–13.3 | 0.8 (0.3–2.3) | ||
| Heroin/opiates | 4 (1) | 0 (0) | – | – | ||
| Marijuana | 61 (15) | 8 (13.1) | 5.8–24.2 | 2.5 (1.0–6.0)¶ | ||
*WNV, West Nile virus; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; CNS, central nervous system.
†p value for trend = 0.02.
‡Significant at α = 0.01.
§p value for trend = 0.002.
¶Significant at α = 0.05.
#Alcohol and current drug use will most likely be underestimated because shelters did not allow use of these substances.
**Not mutually exclusive, hence univariate analysis compared specific drug use with no use of that drug.
1This research was presented in part at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on March 21, 2006.
Page created: July 02, 2010
Page updated: July 02, 2010
Page reviewed: July 02, 2010
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.