Limited effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive injecting drug users on the population level

There is evidence that HIV-positive injecting drug users benefit less than other risk groups from highly active antiretroviral therapy that has been available since 1996. In this multicentre European study the impact of the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy on the progression rates to AIDS and death among injecting drug users with a documented date of HIV seroconversion is studied. After highly active antiretroviral therapy became available the risk of AIDS and death for injecting drug users decreased by 28% and 36%, which is less than has been reported for other risk group

Spread of Hepatitis C Virus among European Injection Drug Users Infected with HIV: A Phylogenetic Analysis

To describe the spread of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among HCV/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-coinfected injection drug users (IDUs), the molecular epidemiology of HCV was studied among 108 IDUs from 7 European countries. Phylogenetic analysis based on the NS5B region showed great sequence variation of HCV within each country and no clear phylogenetic clustering by geographic region. The most prevalent subtypes were 1a and 3a, but the percentage of genotype 4 was also relatively high, ranging from 7% in northern Europe to 24% in southern Europe. Genotype 4 consisted mainly of subtype 4d and has entered the majority of the IDU populations studied. The significantly lower evolutionary distances within subtype 4d suggest that this subtype may have entered the European IDU population relatively recently. In conclusion, HCV exchange between European IDU populations has occurred on a large scale, and, overall, country-specific clustering for HCV was less than that shown for HI

Tuberculosis risk varies with the duration of HIV infection: a prospective study of European drug users with known date of HIV seroconversion

Background: It is not known whether the risk of active tuberculosis disease varies with the length of time that individuals are infected with HIV. Objective: To study how, independently of CD4 T cell count, the risk of tuberculosis varies with the duration of HIV infection. Methods: Using Poisson regression analysis, the incidence of and risk factors for tuberculosis were studied in 683 injecting drug users (IDU) with a documented date of HIV seroconversion followed in seven cohorts in six European countries until 1998. Results: Overall incidence was 11.5/1000 person-years. Adjusted for CD4 T cell count and geographic region, the risk ratio (RR) for tuberculosis (both pulmonary and extrapulmonary), compared with the first 3 years of HIV infection, was 2.8 for years 4 to 6 of HIV infection [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.3-6.3], 1.2 for year 7 to 9 (95% Cl, 0.3-4.2) and 4.6 after 9 years (95% Cl, 1.4-15.0). The adjusted RR for geographic region was 13.1 (95% Cl, 4.3-40.0) for Amsterdam and 15.8 (95% Cl, 4.8-52.0) for the Valencian region of Spain compared with all other sites combined. Conclusion: The risk of tuberculosis is increased relatively early in HIV infection (year 4 to 6) and also later (after year 9) with possibly a relatively silent period between. As expected, IDU in Southern Europe have a substantially higher risk of tuberculosis than IDU in Northern and Central Europe. Amsterdam forms an exception for Northern Europe, with very high incidence rates. (C) 2003 Lippincott Williams Wilkin