HIV and HCV seroincidence, associated factors and drug use in people who inject drugs, SurvUDI network, eastern central Canada, 1995-2020.

Background: The SurvUDI network is a biobehavioural survey among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Eastern Central Canada.

Objectives: The objectives were to describe HIV and HCV seroincidence trends, associated factors and changes in drug use behaviours.

Methods: The network was initiated in 1995 and targets hard-to-reach, mostly out-of- treatment PWID.

Changes in supervised consumption site use and emergency interventions in Montréal, Canada in the first twelve months of the COVID-19 pandemic: An interrupted time series study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted supervised consumption site (SCS) operations in Montréal, Canada, potentially including changes in SCS visits, on-site emergency interventions, injection of specific drugs, and distribution of harm reduction materials.

Method: We used administrative data from all four Montréal SCS from 1 March 2018 - 28 February 2021 to conduct an interrupted time series study with 13 March 2020 as the intervention point. We employed segmented regression using generalised least squares fit by maximum likelihood.

Impact of sex work on risk behaviours and their association with HIV positivity among people who inject drugs in Eastern Central Canada: cross-sectional results from an open cohort study.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine the correlates of HIV positivity among participants who injected drugs and engaged in sex work (PWID-SWs) in the SurvUDI network between 2004 and 2016, after stratification by sex, and (2) to compare these correlates with those of sexually active participants who did not engage in sex work (PWID non-SWs).

Design And Setting: This biobehavioural survey is an open cohort of services where participants who had injected in the past 6 months were recruited mainly through harm reduction programmes in Eastern Central Canada.

Participants: Data from 5476 participants (9223 visits in total; 785 not included in multivariate analyses due to missing values) were included.

Drug use practices among people who inject drugs in a context of drug market changes: Challenges for optimal coverage of harm reduction programs.

Background: Until the early 2000s, people who inject drugs (PWID) in Québec had mainly been injecting powder cocaine and heroin. Since then, ethnographic studies have shown that the drug market has diversified, with crack and prescription opioids (PO) becoming increasingly available. This could have led to changes in drug use practices among PWID.

The need for treatment scale-up to impact HCV transmission in people who inject drugs in Montréal, Canada: a modelling study.

Background: HCV transmission remains high in people who inject drugs (PWID) in Montréal. New direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), highly effective and more tolerable than previous regimens, make a "Treatment as Prevention" (TasP) strategy more feasible. This study assesses how improvements in the cascade of care could impact hepatitis C burden among PWID in Montréal.

Sex Work as an Emerging Risk Factor for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Seroconversion Among People who Inject Drugs in the SurvUDI Network.

Background: Recent analyses have shown an emerging positive association between sex work and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in the SurvUDI network.

Methods: Participants who had injected in the past 6 months were recruited across the Province of Quebec and in the city of Ottawa, mainly in harm reduction programs. They completed a questionnaire and provided gingival exudate for HIV antibody testing.

Estimating the size of the population of persons who inject drugs in the island of Montréal, Canada, using a six-source capture-recapture model.

Background: To plan and implement services to persons who inject drugs (PWID), knowing their number is essential. For the island of Montréal, Canada, the only estimate, of 11,700 PWID, was obtained in 1996 through a capture-recapture method. Thirteen years later, this study was undertaken to produce a new estimate.

Prevalence and temporal trends of crack injection among injection drug users in eastern central Canada.

Background: Little is known about crack injection and its temporal trends in North America. This article describes the extent of crack injection and examines temporal trends among injection drug users (IDUs) recruited from 2003 to 2010 in the SurvUDI network.

Methods: IDUs who injected recently (past 6 months) were recruited in harm reduction and health programs in eastern central Canada.

Temporal changes in risk factors associated with HIV seroconversion among injection drug users in eastern central Canada.

Objectives: To investigate temporal trends in HIV incidence rates and to assess changes over time in associated risk factors.

Methods: Since 1995, the SurvUDI network has conducted surveillance among IDUs recruited in harm reduction programmes in eastern central Canada. Among the 11,731 participants, 2903 repeaters were initially HIV-negative.

Drug use patterns in the presence of crack in downtown Montréal.

Introduction And Aims: A study was undertaken to verify reports of an increasing presence of crack in downtown Montréal, and to investigate the influence of crack availability on current drug use patterns among street-based cocaine users.

Design And Methods: The study combined both qualitative and quantitative methods. These included long-term intensive participant observation carried out by an ethnographer familiar with the field and a survey.

Access to sterile injecting equipment is more important than awareness of HCV status for injection risk behaviors among drug users.

Awareness of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection status is expected to influence risk behaviors. In 2004-2005, injection drug users (IDUs) recruited from syringe exchange programs (SEPs) and methadone clinics in Montreal, Canada, were interviewed on drug use behaviors (past 6 months) and HCV testing. Subjects (n = 230) were classified as low/intermediate risk (20.

Low perceived benefits and self-efficacy are associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection-related risk among injection drug users.

Hepatitis C prevention counselling and education are intended to increase knowledge of disease, clarify perceptions about vulnerability to infection, and increase personal capacity for undertaking safer behaviours. This study examined the association of drug equipment sharing with psychosocial constructs of the AIDS Risk Reduction Model, specifically, knowledge and perceptions related to hepatitis C virus (HCV) among injection drug users (IDUs). Active IDUs were recruited between April 2004 and January 2005 from syringe exchange and methadone maintenance treatment programs in Montreal, Canada.

Minimal uptake of sterile drug preparation equipment in a predominantly cocaine injecting population: implications for HIV and hepatitis C prevention.

Objective: To identify factors associated with using sterile drug injection equipment by injection drug users (IDUs).

Methods: 275 IDUs were recruited from syringe exchange programs in Montreal, Canada in 2004-2005. A structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire collected information about demographics, drug injection practices, self-reported HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) status, and harm reduction behaviours.