Background: Harm reduction has dramatically reduced HIV incidence among people who inject drugs (PWID). In Glasgow, Scotland, <10 infections/year have been diagnosed among PWID since the mid-1990s. However, in 2015 a sharp rise in diagnoses was noted among PWID; many were subtype C with 2 identical drug-resistant mutations and some displayed low avidity, suggesting the infections were linked and recent. Methods: We collected Scottish pol sequences and identified closely related sequences from public databases. Genetic linkage was ascertained among 228 Scottish, 1820 UK, and 524 global sequences. The outbreak cluster was extracted to estimate epidemic parameters. Results: All 104 outbreak sequences originated from Scotland and contained E138A and V179E. Mean genetic distance was <1% and mean time between transmissions was 6.7 months. The average number of onward transmissions consistently exceeded 1, indicating that spread was ongoing. Conclusions: In contrast to other recent HIV outbreaks among PWID, harm reduction services were not clearly reduced in Scotland. Nonetheless, the high proportion of individuals with a history of homelessness (45%) suggests that services were inadequate for those in precarious living situations. The high prevalence of hepatitis C (>90%) is indicative of sharing of injecting equipment. Monitoring the epidemic phylogenetically in real time may accelerate public health action.
Background: Harm reduction has dramatically reduced HIV incidence among people who inject drugs (PWID). In Glasgow, Scotland, <10 infections/year have been diagnosed among PWID since the mid-1990s. However, in 2015 a sharp rise in diagnoses was noted among PWID; many were subtype C with 2 identical drug-resistant mutations and some displayed low avidity, suggesting the infections were linked and recent. Methods: We collected Scottish pol sequences and identified closely related sequences from public databases. Genetic linkage was ascertained among 228 Scottish, 1820 UK, and 524 global sequences. The outbreak cluster was extracted to estimate epidemic parameters. Results: All 104 outbreak sequences originated from Scotland and contained E138A and V179E. Mean genetic distance was <1% and mean time between transmissions was 6.7 months. The average number of onward transmissions consistently exceeded 1, indicating that spread was ongoing. Conclusions: In contrast to other recent HIV outbreaks among PWID, harm reduction services were not clearly reduced in Scotland. Nonetheless, the high proportion of individuals with a history of homelessness (45%) suggests that services were inadequate for those in precarious living situations. The high prevalence of hepatitis C (>90%) is indicative of sharing of injecting equipment. Monitoring the epidemic phylogenetically in real time may accelerate public health action.
Authors: Victoria A Johnson; Vincent Calvez; Huldrych F Gunthard; Roger Paredes; Deenan Pillay; Robert W Shafer; Annemarie M Wensing; Douglas D Richman Journal: Top Antivir Med Date: 2013 Feb-Mar
Authors: Vana Sypsa; Dimitrios Paraskevis; Meni Malliori; Georgios K Nikolopoulos; Anastasios Panopoulos; Maria Kantzanou; Antigoni Katsoulidou; Mina Psichogiou; Anastasios Fotiou; Anastasia Pharris; Marita Van De Laar; Lucas Wiessing; Don Des Jarlais; Samuel R Friedman; Angelos Hatzakis Journal: Am J Public Health Date: 2015-01 Impact factor: 9.308
Authors: Matthew Kearse; Richard Moir; Amy Wilson; Steven Stones-Havas; Matthew Cheung; Shane Sturrock; Simon Buxton; Alex Cooper; Sidney Markowitz; Chris Duran; Tobias Thierer; Bruce Ashton; Peter Meintjes; Alexei Drummond Journal: Bioinformatics Date: 2012-04-27 Impact factor: 6.937
Authors: Caitlin Conrad; Heather M Bradley; Dita Broz; Swamy Buddha; Erika L Chapman; Romeo R Galang; Daniel Hillman; John Hon; Karen W Hoover; Monita R Patel; Andrea Perez; Philip J Peters; Pam Pontones; Jeremy C Roseberry; Michelle Sandoval; Jessica Shields; Jennifer Walthall; Dorothy Waterhouse; Paul J Weidle; Hsiu Wu; Joan M Duwve Journal: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep Date: 2015-05-01 Impact factor: 17.586
Authors: Bryan T Grenfell; Oliver G Pybus; Julia R Gog; James L N Wood; Janet M Daly; Jenny A Mumford; Edward C Holmes Journal: Science Date: 2004-01-16 Impact factor: 47.728
Authors: Jada Hackman; Oluwaseun Falade-Nwulia; Eshan U Patel; Shruti H Mehta; Gregory D Kirk; Jacquie Astemborski; Stuart C Ray; David L Thomas; Oliver Laeyendecker Journal: Infect Genet Evol Date: 2019-10-24 Impact factor: 3.342
Authors: Alexandra M Oster; Anne Marie France; Nivedha Panneer; M Cheryl Bañez Ocfemia; Ellsworth Campbell; Sharoda Dasgupta; William M Switzer; Joel O Wertheim; Angela L Hernandez Journal: J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Date: 2018-12-15 Impact factor: 3.731
Authors: Andria Hadjikou; Ioanna D Pavlopoulou; Katerina Pantavou; Andrea Georgiou; Leslie D Williams; Eirini Christaki; Konstantinos Voskarides; Giagkos Lavranos; Demetris Lamnisos; Enrique R Pouget; Samuel R Friedman; Georgios K Nikolopoulos Journal: AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses Date: 2020-11-26 Impact factor: 2.205