Publications by authors named "A Krings"
Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk of blood-borne infections, and injection drug use contributes significantly to hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission. The WHO has therefore set targets of reducing HCV incidence and prevalence among PWID and increasing treatment coverage to eliminate HCV by 2030. The DRUCK study (2011-2014) found high HCV prevalence and low treatment coverage among PWID in Germany.
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- The study analyzes the occurrence, transmission risks, and immune status related to HIV indicator conditions (HIV-ICs) among treatment-naive individuals living with HIV in Germany from 1999 to 2023.
- It includes data from 15,940 diagnoses and found that the majority of participants were male, with a notable incidence rate for syphilis (34 per 1,000 person-years) and high rates for other conditions linked to HIV.
- The findings emphasize the need for targeted screening based on HIV-ICs to identify individuals with weakened immune systems, highlighting the importance of early antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation.
Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on improving early diagnosis of HIV among individuals with specific conditions known as indicator conditions (ICs), which are associated with higher rates of undiagnosed HIV infections.
- Using data from over 513,000 German healthcare records from 2016 to 2021, the researchers analyzed the HIV prevalence among people with 26 selected ICs, finding notable rates especially in conditions like pneumocystosis and Kaposi's sarcoma.
- The findings indicated significant gender and age disparities, revealing that while many ICs showed high HIV prevalence in younger and middle-aged adults, some female patients had lower prevalence rates in certain conditions compared to males.
Background: To reach the global elimination goals of viral hepatitis B and C (HBC, HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections as a public health threat by 2030, monitoring is needed. Staff members of drug services and opioid substitution treatment (OST) practices in Berlin and Bavaria recruited clients for a pilot study addressing the respective infections among people who injected drugs (PWID) in Germany, 2021/2022. Participants filled a questionnaire and were tested for HBV, HCV, HIV and syphilis using dried blood spots (DBS).
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- - The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of chronic Hepatitis C Virus (cHCV) infections in EU/EEA countries for the year 2019, using a method called multi-parameter evidence synthesis (MPES) to analyze data from various sources.
- - In 29 out of 30 EU/EEA countries, the overall cHCV prevalence was found to be 0.50%, with notably higher rates in the eastern EU/EEA (0.88%), and over a third of cases were linked to people who inject drugs (PWID).
- - The findings indicate that while cHCV prevalence is generally low, targeted efforts are needed, particularly in eastern regions and among PWID, to