Bloodborne viruses – drugs

People who inject drugs: HIV and viral hepatitis monitoring
Data tables and commentary for the unlinked anonymous monitoring surveys of infections and risk among people who inject drugs (PWID) | UKHSA, UK

Emergency department bloodborne virus opt-out testing: 12-month interim report 2023
An estimated 70,649 people were living with chronic HCV in England in 2022. This number has reduced by 45% since 2015 largely due to the roll out of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment through the NHS England Hepatitis C Elimination Programme. People who inject drugs (PWID) are the largest risk group for HCV and this population has been successfully targeted for testing and treatment, with routine testing in place in drug services | UKHSA, UK

New multi-city syringe analysis uncovers latest patterns of injecting drug use (2023)
The latest patterns of injecting drug use in a selection of European cities are presented today in a new analysis from the EMCDDA. The findings are from the agency’s ESCAPE project, which investigates the substances used by people who inject drugs (PWID) by chemically analysing the content of used syringes. In the latest ESCAPE data-collection round (2022), the contents of 1 845 used syringes were analysed via a sentinel network of harm-reduction sites in 10 EU cities, plus Oslo, Odessa and Tunis. The results show that the drugs being injected in Europe are highly diverse, with a total of 54 psychoactive substances identified | EMCDDA, Portugal

Shooting Up: infections among people who inject drugs in the UK (March 2023)
This report describes the extent of infections and injecting-related harms among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the United Kingdom | UKHSA, UK

Shooting Up: infections and other injecting-related harms among people who inject drugs in the UK, 2020 An update December 2021 (2022)
This report describes the extent of infections and injecting-related harms among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the United Kingdom. Some key messages: 1) Data indicate people who inject drugs have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with access to services severely limited. 2) Hepatitis C continues to be the most common infection among PWID in the UK. 3) Hepatitis B remains uncommon but vaccine uptake needs to be sustained, particularly in younger age groups and recent initiates to injecting. 4) HIV infections and outbreaks continue to occur among PWID, although, HIV prevalence in this group remains comparatively low. 5) Cases of bacterial infections among PWID dropped in 2020, although this is thought to be due to limited hospital activity as a result of the pandemic. 6) The recent increase in the sharing and re-use of injecting equipment observed among PWID participating in bio-behavioural surveys is of concern. 7) Changes in psychoactive drug preferences could lead to riskier injecting practices, particularly the continued high levels of in injection of crack cocaine in England and Wales, and increase in injection of powdered cocaine in Scotland.  8) Rates of both fatal and non-fatal overdose are at an all-time high. This is in the context of improved availability of naloxone and increased self-reported carriage of take-home naloxone among PWID | UKHSA, UK

EMCDDA launches new resources to help European countries beat viral hepatitis (2021)
The EU drugs agency has launched a set of resources to help European countries meet health targets to eliminate viral hepatitis. The resources, presented in an online toolkit, are part of a wider EMCDDA harm-reduction initiative supporting countries in their efforts to prevent and control infectious diseases among people who inject drugs | EMCDDA, Portugal

Hepatitis C elimination initiatives: monitoring and evaluation (2021)
A resource guide to support providers, commissioners and other organisations undertake useful evaluations of hepatitis C elimination | PHE, UK

Shooting Up: infections among people who inject drugs in the UK (2021)
Updated: Added December 2020 update report, data tables and links to the slide set and infographic | PHE, UK

People who inject drugs: HIV and viral hepatitis monitoring (2019)
Updated with 2008 to 2018 data and Health Protection Report 13(29) | PHE, UK

Research and analysis: Shooting Up: infections among people who inject drugs in the UK (2018)
Updated – Added Shooting Up November 2018 update report; data tables; briefing; and added link to the slide set and infographic under the Details section | PHE, UK

Public health guidance on prevention and control of blood-borne viruses in prison settings (2018)
This evidence-based guidance aims to support the planning and implementation of effective programmes to prevent and control the transmission of infectious diseases in prison settings in the European region. It focuses on three high-burden blood-borne viruses (BBV) in the prison population, namely hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodefciency virus (HIV) | ECDC and EMCDDA, Portugal

Hepatitis C in England 2018 report (PDF)
In this report, we summarise the impact of action plans in England to drive down mortality from HCV, reduce the number of new infections, and outline the actions required to make further progress | PHE, UK

People who inject drugs: non-fatal overdose monitoring (2017)
Report on non-fatal overdose monitoring data collected from the unlinked anonymous monitoring (UAM) survey of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C in people who inject drugs (PWID) | PHE, UK

Research and analysis – Shooting Up: infections among people who inject drugs in the UK (2016)
This Public Health England report describes the extent of infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the United Kingdom | PHE, UK

Hepatitis C among drug users in Europe: epidemiology, treatment and prevention (2016)
Hepatitis C among drug users in Europe: epidemiology, treatment and prevention provides a timely contribution to raising awareness of the hepatitis C epidemic in Europe and the opportunities now opening up to tackle this problem decisively. A state of the art review of the epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Europe and an overview of the way preventive measures are currently implemented in European countries set the scene | EMCDDA, Portugal

Hepatitis C in the UK (2016)
The most recent national estimates suggest that around 214,000 individuals are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the UK | PHE, UK

Guidelines for the screening, care and treatment of persons with chronic hepatitis C infection, 2016 (PDF)
The field of HCV therapeutics continues to evolve rapidly and, since the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its first Guidelines for the screening, care and treatment of persons with hepatitis C infection in 2014, several new medicines have been approved by at least one stringent regulatory authority | WHO, Switzerland

Guidance: Hepatitis C prevention, diagnosis and treatment in prisons in England, 2016 (PDF)
This document is aimed at prison healthcare managers, prison healthcare teams, prison governors, prison substance misuse teams, health and justice commissioners, specialised commissioners, operational delivery networks and clinical commissioning groups | Hepatitis C Trust, UK

HIV, HCV, TB and Harm Reduction in Prisons,  2016
This report identifies some of the most important human rights and public health standards relating to HIV, HCV and TB in prisons, and the vital role of harm reduction provision in ensuring them | HRI, UK

Improving the quality of HIV-related point-of-care testing, 2016 (PDF)
This handbook has been created to address the weaknesses identified in existing point-of-care testing programmes and to assist service providers in adhering to a new set of minimum standards that promote and ensure quality assurance for HIV related point-of-care testing | WHO, Switzerland

Harm Reduction and the Global HIV Epidemic, 2015 (PDF)
This report assesses the state of harm reduction worldwide by focusing on the steps that five sample countries—Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Ukraine, and Vietnam—have, or have not, taken to address the HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs (PWID) | amfAR, USA

Drug-related infectious diseases in Europe. Update from the EMCDDA expert network, 2015
This report provides an update on infectious diseases related to injecting drug use in Europe for the period up to June 2015. The report covers both the EMCDDA Drug-related infectious diseases indicator, which collects data on the situation, and the responses in the area | EMCDDA, Portugal

Annual report from the sentinel surveillance study of blood borne virus testing in England: data for January to December 2014, 2015 (PDF)
This report provides summary data for individuals who were first reported to the sentinel surveillance programme during 2014. Sections 1 to 7 describes testing and demographic information for individuals tested by venepuncture for hepatitis A to E, HIV, and HTLV | PHE, UK

HIV and young people who inject drugs: Technical brief, 2015
This brief aims to catalyse and inform discussions about how best to provide health services, programmes and support for young people who inject drugs. It offers a concise account of current knowledge concerning the HIV risk and vulnerability of young people who inject drugs; the barriers and constraints they face to appropriate services; examples of programmes that may work well in addressing their needs and rights; and approaches and considerations for providing services that both draw upon and build the strengths, competencies and capacities of young people who inject drugs | WHO, Switzerland

Technical guide for countries to set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care for injecting drug users, 2012, (PDF)
This document provides technical guidance to countries on monitoring efforts to prevent and treat HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) and for setting ambitious but achievable national targets for scaling up towards universal access | WHO, UNODC, UNAIDS, Switzerland