title: Emerging Risks Due to New Injecting Patterns in Hungary During Austerity Times.
abstract: As a consequence of the massive restructuring of drug availability, heroin injection in Hungary was largely replaced by the injecting of new psychoactive substances (NPS) starting in 2010. In the following years in our sero-prevalence studies we documented higher levels of injecting paraphernalia sharing, daily injection-times, syringe reuse, and HCV prevalence among stimulant injectors, especially among NPS injectors. Despite the increasing demand, in 2012 the number of syringes distributed dropped by 35% due to austerity measures. Effects of drug market changes and the economic recession may have future epidemiological consequences. Study limitations are noted and future needed research is suggested.
authors.affiliation: 1Hungarian Reitox National Focal Point, National Centre for Epidemiology , Budapest , Hungary.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tarján
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dudás
authors.forename: V Anna
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Gyarmathy
authors.forename: Erzsébet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rusvai
authors.forename: Bálint
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tresó
authors.forename: Ágnes
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Csohán
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D057172:Economic Recession / Q000639:trends*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D016485:Needle Sharing / Q000639:trends*; D015995:Prevalence; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
keywords: Injecting drugs use; economic recession; harm reduction; hepatitis C; heroin shortage; new psychoactive substances; risk behaviors; synthetic cathinones; syringe sharing; syringe-exchange program