Background
People who inject drugs (PWID) may be at elevated risk of adverse outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 infection; however, data on COVID-19 vaccine uptake among PWID are scarce. This study aimed to determine COVID-19 vaccine uptake among PWID, identify factors associated with sub-optimal uptake, and compare uptake to the general population.
Methods
The Australian Needle Syringe Program Survey is an annual sentinel surveillance project, comprising a self-completed questionnaire and provision of a dried blood sample for HIV and HCV testing. In 2021, respondents provided information on their COVID-19 vaccination status. Multivariate logistic regression models identified correlates of vaccine uptake.
Results
Among 1166 respondents, 49% had been vaccinated and in most states and territories, vaccine uptake was significantly lower than among the general population. Independent predictors of vaccine uptake were longer duration of vaccine eligibility (AOR 3.42, 95% CI 2.65, 4.41); prior SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing (AOR 2.90, 95% CI 2.22, 3.79); injection of opioids (AOR 1.91, 95% CI 1.20, 3.05); and current opioid agonist therapy (AOR 1.70, 95% CI 1.23, 2.33). Women (AOR 0.70, 95% CI 0.54, 0.92) and those who reported daily or more frequent injection (AOR 0.75, 95% CI 0.57, 1.00) were significantly less likely to be vaccinated.
Conclusions
In most Australian states and territories, uptake of COVID-19 vaccine among PWID lagged uptake among the general population. Increased efforts are required to ensure PWID have equitable access to vaccination. Vaccination programmes within harm reduction services and via outreach, coupled with increased support for peers to act as vaccine champions, are likely to reduce barriers and improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake in this population.
The results indicate that the fibrous keratin scaffold remains consistent between ethnic hair types. The hierarchies made by these may be modulated by variation in the content of keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) and lipids that alter the interfacial structures and lead to macroscopic differences in hair morphology.
Abstract:The potential use of high contrast X-ray microtomography (XMT) for the reading of fragile historic documents without the need to physically unravel them is a new analytical imaging development in the field of conservation however, it is important to first assess if there is any evidence of change in the parchment structure during scanning by XMT. Modern and historic parchment samples were exposed to X-rays using the high contrast XMT equipment. Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), Near-infrared Spectroscopy (NIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were utilised to investigate whether there is any evidence for change to collagen within parchment samples after exposure to XMT. Results show that the inherent differences in the parchment structure due to the material source, production and storage appear to produce larger differences than that due to the exposure to XMT. This indicates that XMT may be a suitable technique for data recovery from parchment samples that cannot be unrolled.
The suprafibrillar organisation of collagen rich tissues is the keystone to the diversity of resultant structures made from relatively similar materials. The local organisation between fibrils may be essential to suprafibril structures that are critical to functionality such as transparency in cornea, where specific lateral relationships between fibrils dictate optical properties. Here we show that corneal X-ray diffraction combined with mechanical strains to disrupt a specific suprafibrillar relationship between fibrils evidence and a coherent staggered axial relationship between collagen fibrils. The data also shows evidence for auxetic behavior of the collagen fibrils and reveals a 120 nm diffraction feature previously unreported in collagen tissues. The results show that suprafibrillar organisation can be an essential component in tissue architecture that has hitherto been ignored, but now must be considered in mechanical and structural models.
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