Publications by authors named "A E Hatzakis"
We collected social contact data in Greece to measure contact patterns before (January 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-October 2021) and assess the effects of social distancing over time. During lockdowns, mean daily contacts decreased to 2.8-5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: People who use drugs (PWUD) often face restricted healthcare access despite their heightened healthcare needs. Factors such as stigma, mistrust of the healthcare system, competing priorities, and geographical barriers pose significant healthcare access challenges. Telehealth offers an innovative solution to expand healthcare access for better inclusion of underserved populations in healthcare.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne of the World Health Organization's targets for the 2030 viral hepatitis elimination strategy is to reduce new hepatitis C (HCV) infections. In Athens, Greece, people who inject drugs (PWID) have a high HCV prevalence, with increasing trends since the 2000s. This analysis aims to assess primary HCV incidence among PWID during 2012-2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- New HIV-1 infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Athens increased significantly in 2011, with ongoing transmission remaining even after a decline post-2013.
- The study estimated the time from infection to diagnosis for 844 PWID and found a median time of 0.42 years during the outbreak and 0.70 years from 2016-2019.
- The analysis revealed that 93.5% of infections during 2016-2019 were clustered, indicating a persistent HIV outbreak among PWID and highlighting the need for focused interventions.
Article Synopsis
- High mortality rates among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Greece, primarily due to overdose and HIV, have been documented in a study covering 2018-2022.
- The study found a crude mortality rate of 3.52 deaths per 100 person-years, with notable increases in Athens, and highlighted that younger, daily injectors not in treatment had higher risks of death.
- Results indicate an urgent need for preventive measures, especially in Thessaloniki, and suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated these trends in Athens.