BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE Prevalence of injection drug users (IDUs) is high in the northeastern region of India. This coupled with unsafe injecting practices as well as practice of tattooing in remote tribal areas call for baseline data on the prevalence of parentally transmitted viral diseases. In the present study we aimed to measure the risk behaviours and seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus (H...

A glass syringe with disposable membrane filters was tested as a constant-flow air sampling device. The principle of this sampling device is straightforward: when the syringe is inverted vertically, the syringe plunger falls at a constant speed if an appropriate flow restrictor is connected at the syringe inlet. In case of a 100 ml syringe with two Teflon membrane filters of 0.50 microns in por...

BACKGROUND Injection drug users represent the largest proportion of all HIV reported cases in Viet Nam. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of risk and risk behaviours among HIV-positive injection drug users, and their experiences related to safe injection and safe sex practices. METHODS This study used multiple qualitative methods in data collection including in-depth interviews, foc...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether enrollment in the Baltimore Needle Exchange Program (NEP) was associated with short-term reduction in risky injection practices. METHODS Demographic information was collected on NEP participants upon enrollment. A systematic sample of enrollees was interviewed at program entry, 2 weeks, and 6 months later on recent drug-related behaviors. Comparisons were perfor...

This article describes the secondary syringe exchange (SSE) practices of injection drug users (IDUs) attending 23 syringe exchange programs (SEPs) in the state of California during 2002 (n=539). The sample was primarily heroin injecting, about two thirds male, half White and half other racial/ethnic groups. Participants were interviewed with a structured questionnaire that included items on soc...

objectives: hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection is a major public health problem worldwide with serious complications. according to the importance of intravenous drug use (idu) as the main risk factor for hcv infection and transmission and prison as the main source of risky behaviors, this study conducted to define hcv infection and related risk factors in prison inmates with history of idu in is...

OBJECTIVES Few prospective studies are available on the relationship between incarceration and HIV risk among injection drug users (IDUs). The authors evaluated self-reported rates of syringe sharing and incarceration among a cohort of IDUs. METHODS This study analyzed syringe lending by HIV-infected IDUs and syringe borrowing by HIV-negative IDUs among participants enrolled in the Vancouver ...

BACKGROUND Syringe-dispensing machines (SDM) provide syringes at any time even to hard-to-reach injecting drug users (IDUs). They represent an important harm reduction strategy in large populated urban areas such as Paris. We analyzed the performance of one of the world's largest SDM schemes based in Paris over 12 years to understand its efficiency and its limitations, to answer public and stak...