HIV, hepatitis B & C in people who inject drugs in India: A systematic review of regional heterogeneity & overview of opioid substitution treatment.

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: This systematic review evaluates the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) burden among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in India. In addition, we selectively examined research on opioid substitution treatment (OST)-related services due to their role in antiviral treatment uptake and adherence. METHODS: Data were sourced from peer-reviewed and government publications between 1991 and September 20, 2023, searched in MEDLINE, Scopus and EBSCOhost. English language studies reporting weighted prevalence or raw numbers and recruitment sites were included for review. Quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute tool. Data synthesis was done in graphs and tables. RESULTS: We included 50 reports, yielding 150 HIV, 68 HCV and 24 HBV prevalence estimates across India, revealing significant regional heterogeneity. Notably, 16 States had a single community-based HIV estimate, and 19 States had limited or no HCV data. The highest HIV and HCV prevalence was in Manipur (74.7% and 97.5%, respectively) in 1996. Recent spikes included 50.2 per cent HIV prevalence in Punjab (2010) and 73 per cent HCV in Uttar Pradesh (2021). Nationally, OST coverage in 2020 was under five per cent, with some northeast, north and central States exceeding this, but most others were falling below two per cent. No studies on the cost-effectiveness of directly observed treatment models for OST were identified. INTERPRETATION CONCLUSIONS: There is a lack of sufficiently granular and generalizable estimates for HIV prevalence and any estimates for HCV and HBV among PWIDs in large parts of the country. Community-based representative studies are required to quantify the prevalence and severity of these diseases and allocate resources.

A descriptive study of hepatitis C in people who inject drugs.

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: The seroprevalence of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in general population is higher than that of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in India. People who inject drugs (PWIDs) constitute a high-risk group for all blood-borne infections. Multiple behavioural surveillance surveys have provided a rich typology of HIV-infected PWIDs, but this information is missing for HCV infection. We describe awareness, transmission risk factors and the treatment continuum for HCV infection among PWID. We also report spatial clustering of HCV infection in PWIDs residing in Bengaluru. METHODS: Information from clinical records was collected and telephonic interviews of retrospectively identified PWIDs who received treatment at a tertiary-level addiction treatment facility between 2016 and 2021 were conducted. RESULTS: We identified 391 PWIDs; 220 (56.26%) received an anti-HCV antibody test (4 th Generation HCV-Tridot). Individuals reporting unsafe injection practices were more often tested than those who did not ( χ2 =44.9, df=1, P <0.01). Almost half of the tested and more than a quarter of the whole sample (109/220, 49.9%; 109/391, 27.9%) were seropositive for HCV infection. The projected seropositivity in this group was between 27.9 per cent (best case scenario, all untested assumed negative) and 71.6 per cent (worst case scenario, all untested assumed positive). Only a minority of participants interviewed were aware of HCV (27/183, 14.7%). HCV infection and its associated risk behaviour (PWID) were clustered in certain localities (Diggle and Chetwynd Test; P =0.001) in Bengaluru in the southern district of Karnataka. INTERPRETATION CONCLUSIONS: Undetected HCV infection is common in PWIDs; awareness and treatment uptake is poor in this group. Spatial clustering of infections in a district shows transmission in close networks and provides opportunities for targeted interventions.

Concurrent conventional & high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation for treatment of schizophrenia with co-morbid obsessive-compulsive disorder: A case report.

Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as conventional transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and high definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) are increasingly being used as add-on treatment options in schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This is reporting of the use of a novel accelerated, symptom-specific, add-on tDCS (combining conventional and high definition) protocol in a patient with both schizophrenia and OCD. The intervention showed clinical utility by reducing both schizophrenia and OCD symptoms.