New Syringe Design Not Particularly Effective at Curbing Spread of Hepatitis C Virus
A newer type of syringe designed to reduce HCV transmission by decreasing the so-called dead space—the volume that exists between the syringe hub and needle in comparison to standard and widely used high dead space designs—is not particularly effective, a new Yale School of Public Health-led study has found.
What is chemsex and why does it matter?
“Chemsex” is used in the United Kingdom to describe intentional sex under the influence of psychoactive drugs, mostly among men who have sex with men. It refers particularly to the use of mephedrone, GH, GBL, and methamphetamine. These drugs are often used in combination to facilitate sexual sessions lasting several hours or days with multiple sexual partners.
Ireland to 'decriminalise' small amounts of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and cannabis, for personal use
The minister said attitudes to drugs needed to move away from shaming addicts to helping them and emphasised there was a difference between legalisation and decriminalisation.
User-Driven Syringe Exchange is Best Model to Reduce HIV and Hepatitis C
“Distribution approaches to syringe exchanges have a larger impact on reducing syringe sharing and unsafe injection practices than one-for-one exchanges, and do not result in increased unsafe discard of syringes,” said Robert Heimer, PhD, a professor of epidemiology and pharmacology and director of emerging infections program at Yale School of Public Health. “This is the policy that works best.”
New research traces hepatitis C infections in Scotland back to WWII
The researchers showed that HCV entered Scotland during the 1930s and 1940s while also spreading to other countries throughout the world, probably through the mass treatment of soldiers in field hospitals.
Vancouver's top doc urges Trudeau's Liberals to repeal ban on safe injection sites
Vancouver’s top doctor is calling for the new federal Liberal government to scrap a law she said was designed to ban supervised heroin injection sites and to allow more sites to open across B.C.
Ireland: Injection rooms for addicts to open next year, says Minister
Drug users will be able to use supervised injecting rooms in Dublin next year, followed shortly afterwards by Cork, Galway and Limerick, according to the Minister in charge of the National Drugs Strategy.
Health care workers at heightened risk of hepatitis C
Compared to the general population, health workers had 60 percent greater odds of getting hepatitis C, and those who worked directly with blood had almost triple the risk, according to the analysis in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Maintenance opioids in drug users linked with lower rate of hepatitis C infection
In young adults, treatment with maintenance opioid agonist therapy (methadone or buprenorphine) was associated with a 69% decrease in incident hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection compared to no treatment
