HIV-1 outbreak among injecting drug users in Greece, 2011: a preliminary report

D Paraskevis; G Nikolopoulos; C Tsiara; D Paraskeva; A Antoniadou; M Lazanas; P Gargalianos; M Psychogiou; M Malliori; J Kremastinou; A Hatzakis

doi:10.2807/ese.16.36.19962-en

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HIV-1 outbreak among injecting drug users in Greece, 2011: a preliminary report
D Paraskevis¹ , G Nikolopoulos² , C Tsiara² , D Paraskeva² , A Antoniadou³ , M Lazanas⁴ , P Gargalianos⁵ , M Psychogiou^1,6 , M Malliori⁷ , J Kremastinou² , A Hatzakis ¹
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Affiliations: ¹ National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece ² Hellenic Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, Athens, Greece ³ 4th Department of Internal Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Attikon Hospital, Athens, Greece ⁴ 3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Hellenic Red Cross Hospital, Athens, Greece ⁵ 1st Department of Internal Medicine, Athens General Hospital 'G. Gennimatas', Athens, Greece ⁶ 1st Department of Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Laiko Hospital, Athens, Greece ⁷ Organization Against Drugs (OKANA), Athens, Greece

Correspondence:
A Hatzakis
ahatzak med.uoa.gr
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Citation style for this article: Paraskevis D, Nikolopoulos G, Tsiara C, Paraskeva D, Antoniadou A, Lazanas M, Gargalianos P, Psychogiou M, Malliori M, Kremastinou J, Hatzakis A. HIV-1 outbreak among injecting drug users in Greece, 2011: a preliminary report. Euro Surveill. 2011;16(36):pii=19962. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.16.36.19962-en Received: 02 Sept 2011

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Abstract

A significant increase (more than 10-fold) in the number of newly diagnosed HIV-1 infections among injecting drug users (IDUs) was observed in Greece during the first seven months of 2011. Molecular epidemiology results revealed that a large proportion (96%) of HIV-1 sequences from IDUs sampled in 2011 fall within phylogenetic clusters suggesting high levels of transmission networking. Cases originated from diverse places outside Greece supporting the potential role of immigrant IDUs in the initiation of this outbreak.