HIV-1 outbreak among injecting drug users in Greece, 2011: a preliminary report

Paraskevis, Dimitrios; Nikolopoulos, Georgios K.; Tsiara, Chrissa; Paraskeva, Dimitra; Antoniadou, Anastasia; Lazanas, Marios; Gargalianos, P.; Psychogiou, Mina; Malliori, Meni; Kremastinou, Jenny; Hatzakis, Angelos

doi:10.2807/ese.16.36.19962-en

Cited by 110 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…During the last four years, an HIV epidemic outbreak was noticed among injecting heroin drug addicts due to the cessation of preventive programmes e.g. exchange needles 43,44 . Increased criminality (homicides) is also resulted by the adverse social cohesion phenomena within the framework of the economic recession 7,45 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide, unemployment and other socioeconomic factors: evidence from the economic crisis in Greece

et al. 2014

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GREECEABSTRACT -Background and Objectives: Economic adverse conditions are acknowledged as having a major impact on the exacerbation of mental disorders and suicides. The severity of current European crisis and the local unrelenting spending is affecting largely the economy of Greece.Methods: The aim of this study was to explore changes in suicides and their possible association with macroeconomic and behavioural factors. Data for the period 1990-2011 were drawn mainly from the Hellenic Statistical Authority and Eurostat. Suicide mortality rates were correlated with economic and behavioural factors.Results: Suicide mortality rates were increased by 55.8% between 2007 and 2011 while the total mortality was increased by 1.1% only. Significantly increasing trends in public debt, unemployment rates, consumption of daily units of antidepressants as well as divorces per 1000, homicides per 100,000 and persons with HIV per 100,000 were also observed. Suicides have been found to bear strong correlation with unemployment (r. 0.64). Significant associations were also found between suicide mortality and the percentage of public debt as percentage of GDP, the incidence of infections from HIV and homicides.Conclusions: People suffering from income and job losses, living in a demoralized social state caused by severe austerity measures and restrictive health policies, are exposed to risks for developing depression or commit suicide.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide, unemployment and other socioeconomic factors: evidence from the economic crisis in Greece

et al. 2014

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“…In addition to the B subtype, Portugal also has a high prevalence of the G subtype (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). The high prevalences of the B and G subtypes are thought to have promoted the appearance among intravenous drug users (IDU) of different types of B/G recombinant strains, namely, CRF14_BG, which is considered to have emerged in Portugal in the early 1990s and then spread to Spain and other European countries (24)(25)(26). The association between HIV-1 subtype and risk-behavior patterns has been complex to define, mainly due to difficulties in obtaining large numbers of each viral subtype and transmission route within a homogeneous study population (27).…”

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confidence: 99%

Analysis of a Local HIV-1 Epidemic in Portugal Highlights Established Transmission of Non-B and Non-G Subtypes

et al. 2015

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The existing data support Portugal as the western European country with the highest HIV-1 subtype diversity. However, detailed phylogenetic studies of Portuguese HIV-1 epidemics are still scarce. Thus, our main goal was to analyze the phylodynamics of a local HIV-1 infection in the Portuguese region of Minho. Molecular epidemiological analysis was applied to data from 289 HIV-1-infected individuals followed at the reference hospital of the province of Minho, Portugal, at which isolated viruses had been sequenced between 2000 and 2012. Viruses of the G (29.1%) and B (27.0%) subtypes were the most frequent, followed by recombinant forms (17.6%) and the C (14.5%), F1 (7.3%), and A1 (4.2%) subtypes. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that the odds of being infected with the A1 and F1 subtypes increased over the years compared with those with B, G, or C subtypes or recombinant viruses. As expected, polyphyletic patterns suggesting multiple and old introductions of the B and G subtypes were found. However, transmission clusters of non-B and non-G viruses among native individuals were also found, with the dates of the most recent common ancestor estimated to be in the early 2000s. Our study supports that the HIV-1 subtype diversity in the Portuguese region of Minho is high and has been increasing in a manner that is apparently driven by factors other than immigration and international travel. Infections with A1 and F1 viruses in the region of Minho are becoming established and are mainly found in sexually transmitted clusters, reinforcing the need for more efficacious control measures targeting this infection route.

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“…A significant increase in HIV infection among injecting drug users in Greece and Romania in 2011 has been reported (8). A serious increase in the number of newly diagnosed HIV infection among injecting drug users, more than 10-fold, was reported in Greece during the first seven months of 2011 (9). In the United States, HCV seroprevalence has been reported in 18%-38% of shorter duration injection drug users and 75%-90% of long-term injection drug users (10).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…HIV, less common than HCV, can also be transmitted during unprotected sex. In several studies, high HBV, HCV and HIV prevalence was described among drug users in the several countries (7,8,9,10). However, there is not enough knowledge about the epidemiology of these infections in drug addicts in Turkey, whereas several countries have a developed surveillance systems to monitor the spread of HBV, HCV and HIV infections in drug users.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frequency of Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus and HIV Infections in Cannabis and Opioid Addicts

Karabulut¹,

Çatak²

2017

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ÖZObjective: There are very few data about the epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV infections in drug addicts in Turkey, whereas several countries have a developed surveillance systems to monitor the spread of HBV, HCV and HIV infections in drug users. In this study, HBV, HCV and HIV prevalence in cannabis and opioid addicts were investigated. Materials and Methods: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antiHBs, anti-HCV and anti-HIV tests were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The cannabis and opioid metabolites in urine samples of drug addicts were analyzed by cloned enzyme donor immunoassay.Results: This retrospective study was conducted on 276 individuals with a mean age of 28.89±10.49 years. HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV prevalence in drug addicts was found to be 4%, 52.3% and 7.9%, respectively. In all the drug addicts, anti-HIV test was negative. Whereas the rate of HBsAg among cannabis users (8.8%) was higher than opioid (4.1%) and both cannabis and opioid users (1.4%), the difference was not statistically significant. Although anti-HCV positivity among cannabis users was not detected, 6.4% of opioid users and 15.9% of both cannabis and opioid users were anti-HCV positive (p=0.009). Conclusion:This study showed that HCV infection among especially opioid users and both cannabis and opioid users was a problem. Understanding of local status in HBV, HCV and HIV infections is crucial for developing prevention and geographical strategies for these infections.

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HIV-1 outbreak among injecting drug users in Greece, 2011: a preliminary report

Cited by 110 publications

References 16 publications

Suicide, unemployment and other socioeconomic factors: evidence from the economic crisis in Greece

Suicide, unemployment and other socioeconomic factors: evidence from the economic crisis in Greece

Analysis of a Local HIV-1 Epidemic in Portugal Highlights Established Transmission of Non-B and Non-G Subtypes

Frequency of Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus and HIV Infections in Cannabis and Opioid Addicts

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