BACKGROUND Across Europe, illicit drug-related mortality has not declined despite ever increasing prevention measures. The cause of these deaths has traditionally been associated with overdose. Previous findings have revealed the appearance of non-lethal opioid concentrations, leading us to investigate a further cause of death. The symptoms of heroin intoxication with asphyxia and/or cardiovasc...

BACKGROUND Drug market policing has been associated with various harms among injection drug users (IDU). However, little is known about instances in which drugs and injecting equipment are confiscated from IDU in the absence of a formal arrest. METHODS We examined factors associated with being stopped, searched, or detained by police among participants in the Vancouver Injection Drug Users St...

Recent data suggest that globally, between 5% and 10% of all new HIV cases are the result of unsafe injecting practices, and experts agree that reducing these practices is key to tackling the spread of HIV. And yet, despite the overwhelming evidence that providing sterile syringes to injection drug users (IDU) through syringe exchange programs (SEPs) or other means is an effective way of reduci...

BACKGROUND Youth in custody have high-risk drug use and sexual behaviours. HIV prevalence in this population was assessed in British Columbia (BC) in 1994 but hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence has never been measured. We sought to determine: 1) the performance of the OraSure, a non-invasive device for oral mucosal transudate (OMT) specimen collection, to detect HCV and HIV antibodies; 2) the p...

BACKGROUND Unstable housing and homelessness is prevalent among injection drug users (IDU). We sought to examine whether accessing addiction treatment was associated with attaining stable housing in a prospective cohort of IDU in Vancouver, Canada. METHODS We used data collected via the Vancouver Injection Drug User Study (VIDUS) between December 2005 and April 2010. Attaining stable housing ...

Injection drug use (IDU) and HIV infection are important public health problems in Vietnam. The IDU population increased 70% from 2000 to 2004 and is disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS -- the country's second leading cause of death. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) share transmission routes with HIV and cause serious medical consequences. This study aimed to determin...

AIM This study aimed to examine drug use, drug treatment history and risk behaviour among a sample of Iranian drug users seeking treatment through a general practice clinic in Iran. METHODS Review of medical records and an intake questionnaire at a large general practice in Marvdasht, Iran, with a special interest in drug dependence treatment. Records from a random sample of injecting drug us...

BACKGROUND Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has reduced the rates and changed the causes of hospital admission. However, human immunodeficiency virus-positive intravenous drug users (HIV-IDU) continue to have increased hospitalizations and discharge diagnosis are less defined in the late ART era. Our aim was to examine ART use, HIV-1 RNA suppression, and hospital discharge diagnoses among HIV-IDU a...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES The HIV prevalence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia continues to increase. While injection drug use (IDU) is leading factor, heterosexual transmission is on the rise. Little is known about female sex workers (FSWs) in the region despite the central role of commercial sex in heterosexual sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV transmission globally. The authors evaluated...