In many countries injection drug users (IDU) constitute a ‘key population’ for HIV/AIDS. There may in some contexts be substantial overlap with other groups – where, for example, the IDU are also sex-workers, or prisoners. In reality, IDU may be exposed to multiple risk factors, which can be hard to isolate from each other. However, […]
Category: Intravenous drug use
Heterosexual chemsex?
Much in the news at the moment is a recent study (Palamar & Cleland) of nonmedical opioid drug use amongst you people on the electronic dance music (EDM) ‘scene’ in New York. But the phenomenon is by no means confined to that city (Kurtz & Surratt). To appreciate what all the fuss is about, we […]
The risk network approach to HIV detection: something like contact tracing?
There has been considerable debate on the most effective and cost-effective means of accessing untested HIV- or STI-infected individuals. One frequently canvassed strategy is that of respondent driven sampling (RDS). This involves issuing suitable ‘seeds’ (e.g. recently diagnosed MSM) with coupons to distribute to others in their sexual or social networks. Wei & Raymond (STI) […]
Indiana State ban on Needle Share programmes faces challenge of an IDU-fuelled HIV spike
In 2011 18.5% of HIV infections in the US were attributable to intravenous drug-use (IDU) – a significant proportion (Lansky & Wejnert (STIs)). The issue of IDU fuelled HIV transmission has been brought forcibly to the attention of Americans in the last few weeks by the recent HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana, US. This […]
IDU and HIV in the Middle East: a brief window of opportunity?
There are regions of the world where intravenous drug use (IDU) is known to have a key role in evolving HIV epidemics. Information about IDU populations, on the basis of which to motivate and inform public health interventions, can be scant and of poor quality (STI/Aceijas & Hickman). This deficiency is particularly important to address, […]