Epidemiology of HIV infection and associated behaviours among people who inject drugs in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland: Nearly 40 years on.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

People who inject drugs are at high risk of blood-borne infections. We describe the epidemiology of HIV among people who inject drugs in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (EW&NI) since 1981.

Methods

National HIV surveillance data were used to describe trends in diagnoses (1981-2019), prevalence (1990-2019), and behaviours (1990-2019) among people who inject drugs aged ≥15 years in EW&NI. HIV care and treatment uptake were assessed among those attending in 2019.

Results

Over the past four decades, the prevalence of HIV among people who inject drugs in EW&NI remained low (range: 0.64%-1.81%). Overall, 4978 people who inject drugs were diagnosed with HIV (3.2% of cases). Diagnoses peaked at 234 in 1987, decreasing to 78 in 2019; the majority were among wh

SUBMITTER: Croxford S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9545638 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature